Avatar the Last Airbender: The First Step
by bluespiritgal
Summary: My Avatar Facfic version of what happens after Season 3: Day of Black Sun episode when the Gaang goes to the Western Air Temple. This fanfic was written before the airing of The Western Air Temple, so it's probably VERY different for what really happens.
1. Chapter 1

**Spoiler Warning**: If you have not seen "The Day of Black Sun" Episodes, ("The Invasion "and "The Eclipse") yet, you may want to wait to read this story!

Fanfic based on the series Avatar the Last Airbender. This story is my version of what takes place after Season Three's "Day of Black Sun". It is told strictly in Zuko's perspective. I do not own Avatar or its characters. This story is a fanfic for entertainment purposes only.

**The First Step**

Zuko had followed the flying bison for nearly three days over land and sea before it reached the coastal bluffs and turned inland, eventually ascending the steep sloping sides of a mountain to what appeared to be the ruins of an ancient Air Nomad Temple.

Though he had tried to hide his pursuit of the Avatar in the small balloon, using the clouds drifts and the glare of the sun against his back, he still wasn't sure they hadn't spotted him. But the fact he hadn't been attacked as yet, was a positive sign. Zuko knew his first encounter with the Avatar after they had fled the Fire Nation Royal Palace, following the failed invasion attempt during the eclipse, wasn't going to be an easy one. He didn't relish trying to explain himself or convince the Avatar of his intentions in a defenseless single air balloon thousands of feet up in the air.

So Zuko followed and waited until the bison finally descended. Landing the balloon quite a distance away from the Air Temple, he concealed it behind a grove of tall trees. If his plan didn't work, the balloon would probably be his only means of escape off the mountain.

Collecting his broadswords and the few meager supplies he'd brought, Zuko slowly made his way through the dense foliage and up the steep grade towards the temple. Along the way he had a lot of time to think about what he was going to say, but he hadn't yet come up with a plausible plan that would allow him to get close enough to the Avatar before he and his friends attacked.

A few hours later he crested a rise and looked down on the ruins of a garden which stretched out to the edge a sheer faced cliff. There he spotted the Avatar with his friends. He recognized the two Water Tribe siblings, Katara and Sokka, immediately. The others he did not know: a tall Earthbender about his own age, a short boy wearing an oversized helmet, and a young teenager in some sort of wheelchair contraction. After a few minutes of conversation, Sokka and the others started to leave, but his sister lingered behind. The Avatar seemed distracted, staring up at the vast stone walls of the temple, half collapsed and overgrown. Katara walked over and placed a hand briefly on his shoulder as if in reassurance or understanding before joining the rest of the group. Soon the Avatar was alone.

Zuko continued to observe him from his position on the rise. Eventually the Avatar walked over to a stone platform in the center of the gardens and sat down cross-legged, placing his hands on his knees, palms upward in a meditative stance. He was bare-chested and sat with the warming sun to his back. With no one else in sight, it appeared this would be Zuko's best opportunity to confront him.

Making his way silently down the narrow path, he stopped at the edge of the clearing. Taking a deep breath, he hardened his resolve and took his first steps towards what he hoped would be a better chapter in his life.

He was perhaps twenty feet away, when the Avatar suddenly opened his eyes, and with surprising speed was on his feet in a defensive stance. His eyes widened and his mouth opened almost comically as he recognized the intruder. Zuko couldn't help the wiry smirk on his face in response. But an instant later, the Avatar's face closed over, his eyes narrowing into angry, wary slits.

Zuko stood still making no move to advance or retreat, keeping his arms loosely at his side. His eyes focused intently on the Avatar. "We need to talk."

The Avatar glanced quickly around the clearing as if looking for more invaders.

"I'm alone if that's what you're worried about."

"How did you find us!" he demanded.

"It's not important. But why I'm here is."

Suddenly, without warning the ground beneath Zuko's feet was thrust upward at an angle sending him sailing backwards in the air. He landed heavily on his shoulder and quickly rolled over and back into a standing position, instinctively withdrawing his broadswords. A boulder was immediately hurled at him and he had to act swiftly swinging his arms around to deflect the blow with a sharp clang of metal.

"We know why you're here!" His attacker shouted.

Zuko spotted the girl off to the side. It was the blind Earthbender named Toph. He hadn't seen her with the group earlier. It had been stupid of him to forget about her. But before he could get another word out, a second rock was catapulted towards him forcing Zuko to deflect the attack once again. The Avatar moved quickly to the right sending a blast of wind which hurled him into a low lying stone wall. Zuko grunted angrily as one of his broadswords was knocked from his hand.

With his temper beginning to flare, Zuko rose slowly to his feet. Another air blast was sent his way and Zuko produced a fire shield to block it. "I didn't come here to fight you Avatar. I came to try and bring an end to this war!"

From a nearby fountain in the garden, the boy withdrew a stream of water freezing it into a sharp ice wheel. The Avatar stood before him, muscles tense, eyes narrowed, distrusting. "I don't believe you! This is just another trick to trap me and hurt my friends! But you're not going to get a chance to do either, not this time!"

He advanced, but to Zuko's amazement was stopped by the Earthbender. "Wait Aang! As weird as this sounds, I think he's actually telling the truth."

The Avatar's brief hesitation was all Zuko needed to make his move. To everyone's surprise, the remaining broadsword clanked to the ground at Zuko's feet. He kicked it away out of his reach.

The Avatar stared at him oddly. Zuko pressed the advantage. "You asked me once that if we had known each other a hundred years ago could we have been friends."

The Avatar's mouth turned downward into a deep frown. Zuko could see the mistrust he felt and couldn't blame him. The last time the question had been asked he'd been blasted with a jet of fire for an answer.

Zuko's jaw tightened finding humility harder to swallow than his uncle's tea. Not quite able to meet the Avatar's stare, he looked slightly off to the side and sighed. "In truth, I don't really know if that can ever be a possibility," Zuko confessed, then looked back at the Avatar with determination in his voice, "But I think it's time we put our differences aside and try to find an end to this war."

Several tense seconds passed between them. Finally, slowly, the ice wheel started to melt and dropped into a puddle of water next to the Avatar's feet.

But just as Zuko thought he was making a little headway, he spotted two figures entering the garden. Even from a distance he could see the water tribe idiot's mouth dropping wide open. But it was the girl's reaction that put Zuko on the defense once again, preparing for yet another battle.

And it came fast! Water appeared suddenly out of almost thin air and ice daggers were hurled towards him. He ducked quickly, but not before one grazed his bicep. Zuko clenched his teeth.

Angrily he spun about as her brother advanced yielding a black sword in his hands. But to his surprise the Avatar stepped between them. "Katara! Sokka! Wait!"

They stopped short and Zuko stood motionless.

"What's he doing here?" Sokka demanded, thrusting the sword angrily at Zuko.

The Avatar looked back at him. "He's says he's wants to talk."

"Talk!" Sokka shouted unbelievably. "Talk about what?"

Next to her brother, a pair of intense blue eyes bored into Zuko's own golden ones with hatred as sharp as the ice dagger that just cut him. "How can you even think that we would want to listen to anything you have to say? After all you've done to Aang, to us, to our families!"

"I know," Zuko replied quietly. "Nevertheless, I intend to stay until I've said my peace."

The Avatar scratched his head, not quite sure what to do next. "Maybe I should at least hear him out."

"Are you are crazy?!" Sokka snapped back. "You can't trust him any further than you can spit!"

"Actually Sokka, an Airbender can spit pretty far. And I didn't say I trusted him, only that I wanted to hear what he has to say."

"And the rest of us don't get a vote in this?" Sokka heatedly replied. "Why don't you go back to the hole you crawled out of Zuko? Or better yet we'll let Toph make you a nice deep one here so you can rot away in it, just like my Dad is doing right now!"

"I had nothing to do with that."

"Liar! You and the rest of your scum family had it all planned. It was a set up from the start!"

"I can see there is no way I'm going to convince you at the moment. Perhaps Avatar, it would be better to have this conversation with you alone first."

"No way are we leaving you alone with him!" Katara interjected.

"You've got that right scum bag! If you have anything to "say" to Aang you can say it in front of us!"

Though Zuko was trying his best to control his temper, there was a limit to how far he could be pushed. He was beginning to wonder if this had been a mistake. "Are your friends always this stubborn?"

"Stubborn!" Katara's temper flared. "Why you wrote the book on it, as well as being the most arrogant, self-centered, untrustworthy, lying creep around."

Zuko clenched his fists feeling the heat rising in his hands. "I didn't come here to fight you, but don't push your luck either."

"Why? You think you can take all of us on and win?" Katara countered.

The Avatar held up his hands. "Guys…slinging insults at each other isn't going to get us anywhere."

"I agree!" Sokka took several steps forward towards Zuko.

Seeing the smoke rising from Zuko's clenched fists, the Avatar placed his hands on his friend's chest. "Sokka stop!"

He looked angrily down at his friend but held his ground.

The Avatar looked at Zuko for several long seconds. "All right, Zuko. I'll talk to you….alone."

"Aang you can't be serious!" Katara argued back. "He's probably just trying to lure you away from us into a trap. For all you know there are probably a hundred Fire Nation soldiers just over the rise waiting for you."

"I don't think so."

"But how do you know that Aang?" Katara implored, placing her hands on his shoulder with concern.

"I don't," he replied softly. "But as the Avatar, I have to take the chance." He gently removed Katara's arms. "I'll be fine."

The Avatar picked up his staff and popped it open into a glider. "I'll talk to you, Zuko, but I choose the place."

Zuko looked suspiciously at the Avatar. "What to you have in mind?"

"Let's just say you're going to have to trust me as equally as I'm going to have to trust you, agreed?"

Zuko eyes narrowed. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the contemptuous smug look on Sokka's face and clenched his jaw in determination.

"All right Avatar."

As Zuko retrieved his broadswords from the ground, both Katara and Sokka tensed up ready for another fight. But and to everyone's surprise, he calmly walked over and handed them to Sokka. "I'll be back for those when I return with the Avatar safe and sound. Try not to lose them."

Sokka glared angrily back.

"Then hop on and hang on tight!"

A few minutes later Zuko was in for the most terrifying ride of his life. Holding onto the top of the glider, the Avatar took him on a spiraling ride straight up the side of the Air Temple. He then banked sharply and plummeted down into the deep valley below. Zuko was sure he going to deliberately crash him into the raging canyon river below but at the last second he pulled up even to the rapids and followed the snaking canyon, banking sharply to the left and right as he negotiated the narrow passages. Eventually the glider shot straight up again along a sheer face mountain side before landing effortlessly on the small flat pinnacle at the top.

While Zuko tumbled to the ground glad to feel solid earth beneath his feet, the Avatar stood before him grinning. With a flick of his wrist the glider retracted back into the staff.

Zuko got slowly to his feet trying to find his stomach he left on the last three hundred and sixty degree turn they'd made. With somewhat shaky legs, he walked over to the edge and looked down to the thousand foot plunge below. "Nice view," he remarked dryly.

The Avatar turned his back to Zuko and stared across the valley at the ruins of the Western Air Temple. On his bare back Zuko saw a huge scar, what remained of Azula's attack, he surmised, in the caves beneath Ba Sing Se. The mark was now his legacy, like his own, which he was now forced to bare.

When the Avatar spoke, his voice was solemn. "A hundred years ago, the Western Air Temple, like the others, was alive with my people. Now this is all that remains of the Air Nomads besides myself."

"I'm sorry. I wish I could change the past Avatar, but I can't."

He sighed deeply, "Neither can I." He then turned away from the site and sat cross-legged, resting the staff loosely across his legs. "You wanted to talk to me. So talk." There was hardness in his voice which Zuko hadn't heard before, but recognized it as one who's had to grow up fast.

Zuko sat down in a similar position facing the Avatar a few feet away.

But now that he had the Avatar's attention, suddenly it became difficult to know just where to start. For so long ,he had pictured the boy before him as his enemy.

The Avatar waited patiently and Zuko realized he wasn't about to make this easy for him.

"For more than three long years, I've done nothing but hate you…" Zuko began slowly. "But I've realized the person I've hated the most is myself."

The Avatar's eyes widen slightly at his confession.

Slowly he began to talk. He told the Avatar about the Agni Kai with his father, Firelord Ozai, and the terms that would free him from his banishment. About his quest to find him and the growing hatred he felt being thwarted at each turn. During those days, Zuko admitted, he'd thought little about anyone except himself and his lost honor. But after three years of banishment and being a fugitive of the Fire Nation, it became harder and harder to deny the truths he'd begun to see with his own eyes.

But even then he hadn't been ready to admit the Fire Nation had done anything wrong. After the fall of Ba Sing Se and his return to the Fire Nation, he tried to deny his conflicting emotions, telling himself he'd done what was right for his Nation, for his people…for his father. And everything seemed to be going well and in his favor: his people had praised his return, his father had forgiven him and his honor had been restored. Yet the anger he'd carried with him for more than three years still remained and he realized he could no longer deny the truth or live with the lies he'd been raised to believe.

"I was taught the Fire Nation was the supreme of all the nations and it was our duty to share our prosperity with the rest of the world to make it a better place. That our expansion was not about conquering the other nations but rather to unite them to bring about peace and prosperity through a single leadership, a supreme leadership, a Fire Nation Leadership." Zuko laughed with contempt. "How surprised was I to find the world didn't quite see it our way. The truth of the matter was the world hated and feared the Fire Nation and with just reason. Those that opposed our divine plan were simply eliminated, for the good of the whole, we were taught. Amazing how such incredible lies my people turned into truths to fit their own purposes and justify our own policies.

The Air Nomads were the first to experience this and all because my Great Grandfather, Firelord Sozin, knew the next Avatar to be born would be an Airbender. It didn't matter that they were a peaceful people. But they had posed a threat to his divine plan and their extermination became a justifiable loss."

He read the grief on the Avatar's face. "I'm sorry for what you've had to suffer from the past, but I now know what I need to do to try and make things right."

"And what's that?"

"To stand against my father and to try and bring about peace. I came here in the hopes of putting our differences aside and to join you. But whether you choose accept my offer or not my destiny will be the same. But defeating my father alone won't bring an end to this war."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that if there is any hope to change the way my people view the rest of world, it is to have a leader willing to fight for peace."

"So that's why you are here? To make a deal with me and help you become the next Fire Lord?"

"Would you prefer my sister, Azula?" Zuko asked.

"Uh….good point."

Zuko shook his head. "No, I'm here because I'm tired of living the lie. I'm sure if I would have continued to be the perfect son and done all the things I was told to do without question in the name of the Fire Nation and my father, I would have eventually succeeded as the next Firelord. But my father is strong, healthy and powerful and certainly not ready to step down anytime soon. But I don't think the world has another thirty years to wait for change.

He plans to eliminate what little resistance is left when Sozin's Comet returns. He's already begun a series of war meetings to plan out his next strategies. If he's ever going to be stopped, you're going to need my help as much as I need yours. It's as simple as that."

"But what about during the invasion? If you wanted to join us, why didn't you help us then? Sokka's father and many other brave men risked everything for me. Now they are prisoners and who knows what's going to become of them."

"I didn't know about it until it was underway."

The Avatar looked skeptically at him.

"It's true that my father and Azula knew about the invasion, but they didn't see fit to enlighten me. But the signs were there, I was just too wrapped up in my own confusing emotions to see them."

Zuko paused. The Avatar turned his head away looking at the clouds off in the horizon, deep in thought.

"I can see why you don't want to trust me. I've done nothing to prove otherwise to you. Nevertheless, I'm asking you to believe that I'm speaking the truth to you now."

Grey eyes regarded him quietly.

From a fold in his belt, Zuko removed a small object. It was a relic from long ago. "This once belonged to my Great-Grandfather on my mother's side."

The Avatar looked down and the object resting in Zuko's palm, recognizing it immediately. "Avatar Roku's headpiece." He thought it had been lost when Roku had perished.

"Where'd you get that?"

"It was given to my by someone who felt I could make a difference. I still don't know if I can live up the expectation, but I'm determined to try."

The Avatar got up and walked over to the edge of cliff again, holding his staff loosely in his fist. Zuko knew he'd given him a lot to digest. He remained quiet for a long time and Zuko waited patiently watching as the sun sank a little lower.

Finally he spoke, "I guess that's all any of us can do, to keep trying." He turned to look at Zuko. "And if there is any way to stop this world before it destroys itself, then as the Avatar it's my job to try too." He gripped his staff tightly. "All right Zuko, I'm willing to take a chance with you, but I can't guarantee my friends are going to be very keen on this idea. Frankly, they hate your guts. You're going to have to earn their trust and mine. Time will tell if you're speaking the truth."

Zuko nodded. "Fair enough, Avatar."

"And it's Aang."

"What?"

"My name. It's Aang."


	2. Chapter 2: Enemy in Their Eyes

**Chapter 2: Enemy in Their Eyes**

The sun was starting to dip behind the mountain range when Aang and Zuko finally returned to the Western Air Temple. His friends had been waiting vigil and rushed up to meet him when he touched down.

"You've been gone so long, you had us worried sick," Katara berated, throwing Zuko a look that suggested if there was one scratch on the Avatar he would likely be frozen to the nearest wall and used for target practice.

"I'm okay guys, really."

Zuko addressed the group. "As promised, I've returned the Avatar no worse for wear."

A tense silence followed as the two Water Tribe siblings regarded him with suspicion.

"Well…" Toph finally blurted. "Are you going to fill us in, Twinkle Toes, or are we supposed to stand here in suspense all day?"

Twinkle Toes? Zuko eyebrow rose slightly at the nickname and the Avatar gave him a rueful look, as it if to say, "don't ask."

Aang turned to his friends. "Zuko and I had a long talk….about a lot of things and what he told me I believe he was being sincere in." He paused. "Zuko didn't come here to fight, but to ask to join us. To join us in defeating the Firelord."

"He wants to what?" Sokka mouth dropped open. "You're joking right?" But Aang just continued to look at up him, making Sokka frown deeply. "This is Zuko, remember," he dramatically gestured towards him with his hands. "Angry guy with the big scar and the bigger attitude, chasing us all around the world just so he can kill you, Zuko!"

"I know this is hard to believe guys, but it's true. And I admit he's done a lot of things to make you mistrust him, but after hearing all that Zuko had to say, I…I decided to give him a chance."

"You did what?!"

Katara placed her hands on the Avatar's shoulders, "Aang, I don't think this is such a good idea."

"You got that right!"

"I understand how you must feel," Zuko began in an attempt to atone.

But Katara cut him off sharply as she dropped her arms from Aang and suddenly reeled on him. "How dare you say that to us!" Her blue eyes flashed intensely with hatred as cold and deadly as Azula's lightening bolt. "How dare you think you can possibly understand how we feel about you! Not after all that's happened and especially not after Ba Sing Se."

"Katara…"

"No, Aang! I can't accept this. Not now! Not ever!" She looked to her brother and Toph, her voice strained with emotion. "You guys weren't there! You didn't see Azula strike Aang down or watch him fall! You didn't see Zuko and Azula and the dozens of Dai Li agents gang up on me after they thought they'd killed him!" Her voice cracked. "You didn't see the satisfied victorious look on Azula's smug face while I held Aang's lifeless body in my arms! If it hadn't been for Zuko's uncle I would never have been able to get Aang out of there! I hate him for everything he's done and I will NEVER let him hurt Aang like that _ever_ again!"

Katara's savage outcry was filled with the pain of betrayal as she angrily wiped the tears from her eyes. Zuko clenched his fists tightly. He'd known from the start it would be a difficult task to convince them of his sincerity, yet his arrogance had once again blinded him from understanding the immense barrier which still existed between them, especially with the girl.

So he did something that even shocked Katara. Setting his pride aside he bowed down humbly before the Avatar and his friends. "Everything you've said about what happened in Ba Sing Se is true," he said in a deep voice filled with regret. "It's something I'm not proud of and will have to live with the rest of my life." He closed his eyes against the painful memories. "My uncle tried to convince me to choose the right path that day, but I was too angry and too stubborn and too emotionally screwed up to listen. The one person who had stood by me my entire life I betrayed that day."

"And this confession is supposed to make us feel better about trusting you?" Katara said caustically.

"No," Zuko admitted bowing his head low. "But as difficult as it is for you to believe, I'm not that same person anymore."

"You're right! I don't believe you. Why should I?"

"Because, I finally stopped trying to win my father's love and approval and started seeing things for what they really are, for what my father was really about," Zuko replied bitterly. "And I came to the realization my uncle and the Avatar had been right all along. The world was never meant to be ruled by one nation, but shared by all four. The legacy of hate and destruction started by my great-grandfather needs to end and be replaced by an era of peace if my nation and the rest of the world has any hope of survival."

But his next words held an ominous thread. "But time is running out. Now that my father knows the Avatar is alive, he will be more determined than ever to hunt him down and eliminate him. You're too big of a risk right now. Since the fall of Ba Sing Se, my father has steadily crushed most of the resistance in the Earth Kingdom. He now has the resources, the man-power and strategic positioning he needs to launch a second invasion on the Northern Water Tribe when the comet returns. He plans not just to defeat them, but to exterminate them just as Firelord Sozin did to the Air Nomads."

Katara gasped.

Zuko looked up at Aang. "As hard as it may be to believe, not everyone in the Fire Nation is against you, Avatar, but right now they fear my father's power more. Opposition to the Firelord's divine rule has always been met with harsh punishment, even towards his own subjects…and within my own family," Zuko admitted bitterly as he thought of his mother, and his uncle, and everyone else his father had been willing to sacrifice for the power of the Firelord's thrown. "I want to join you to fight against my father, not because I hate the Fire Nation, but because I want to save it!"

There was a thick heavy silence that followed as each of the Avatar's friends weighed carefully the words Zuko had spoken.

Toph, eventually, was the first to speak. "For what it's worth guys, I don't sense he's lying."

"Yeah, but you couldn't tell Azula was lying before, either," Sokka countered.

"Well, that's true."

"I wouldn't hold that against me," Zuko defended. "Azula _always_ lies."

"Guys, I know this is a difficult decision I've made that I'm asking you to support. But it's not one I made lightly. It's hard to explain, but it's not just what Zuko _said_ that makes me want to give him a chance, but what I_ felt_."

"I don't understand," Katara said.

"The visions I had with Avatar Roku about Sozin were shown to me for a reason. Roku said he wanted me to understand the past to help me decide the future. Roku wanted me to find a way to set things right again, to restore the balance."

"No offense, Aang, but Firelord Sozin did betray Roku, his best friend, in the end. It doesn't give much credibility for honor and trustworthiness to members of the Royal Family here," Sokka interjected.

"I know, but there's a connection between my visions with Avatar Roku and Zuko's presence here. I can feel it as real as I can feel you and Katara. I can't fully explain it. I only know it's important…important enough to believe Zuko is telling me the truth and to take the risk."

Sokka's eyes narrowed sharply on his friend. "This is one of those weird Avatar moments, isn't it?" he muttered.

Aang smiled boyishly.

Sokka groaned and rolled his eyes. "Can't we just go back to it being simple?" he whined. "You know, clear cut. Good guys," he pointed to them, "bad guys," he indicated Zuko.

"As I recall, Sokka, you thought I was the enemy at one time."

"That was different! You creeped my out with your glowing Avatar Spirit stuff!"

Aang stared up at Sokka with large grey eyes. "Don't look at me like that! Every time you give me that look, we end up doing something crazy!" But Aang was persistent. Sokka grumbled irritably then sighed. "Okay! Okay! I may live to regret this, but I'm in."

"Thanks Sokka. Toph?"

The blind Earthbender shrugged. "I've come this far with you, Twinkle Toes; I guess I can take the chance."

Aang finally turned to Katara who stood with her arms wrapped tightly about her waist. His voice was quiet and filled with need. "Please Katara….for me."

She bit her lip, looking down at the Avatar with a mixture of uncertainty and worry. Katara sighed deeply. "All right Aang," she finally said very softly. "If you think this is important, I'll stand behind you."

The Avatar smiled.

But as Katara turned to face Zuko, he could still see the anger and mistrust clearly in her eyes. He may have won this round, but it would be an uphill battle to prove himself.

Zuko rose slowly to his feet. "I promise you won't regret this….Aang."

He extended his arm, and Aang slowly accepted it with his own.

And so began the tenuous alliance between the Prince of the Fire Nation and the Avatar. But the question remained…would it be able to last???

(author's note: Thanks for all the wonderful feedback I received from the first chapter. I found the second chapter even more difficult to write while doing my best to maintain the characters in the truest form to the series. Your feedback is appreciated!)


	3. Chapter 3: Baby Steps

**Chapter 3: Baby Steps**

After Sokka, Toph and a reluctant Katara had agreed to let him stay, a somewhat awkward evening followed.

Aang's three other friends, Haru, Teo and The Duke, returned a short time later. They had apparently been out collecting food and looked more than a little surprised to see Zuko sitting rather nonchalantly in the middle of their camp. The three friends stood uncertainly on the edge of the clearing.

"I guess I should go talk to them," Aang said.

"I'll come with you," Katara volunteered.

Zuko was left with Toph and Sokka. Neither seemed particular eager for chit chat, which was fine with Zuko. He'd done enough talking today to last a lifetime. Instead he sat quietly and observed.

Sokka went about stacking wood for a fire. He took a small satchel out and dumped the contents on the ground. "Toph, have you seen my flint rock?"

The blind Earthbender gave Sokka an annoyed look. "Why do you keep doing that?"

"Oh, uh…sorry Toph."

"Allow me," Zuko volunteered using his bending to easily ignite the wood. In a matter of minutes they had a crackling campfire.

"Sweet!" Toph replied, leaning up against a rock she had bended up from the ground. "We usually have to wait forever to get a fire going."

"Thanks, but I didn't need your help," Sokka grumbled irritably. "Despite Toph's opinion, I'm perfectly capable of starting a campfire in an efficient manner!"

Zuko shrugged. "Whatever you say."

"I don't know what you're so annoyed about Sokka," Toph teased. "He did say he wanted to join the team and he _is_ after all a Firebender. Seems like the perfect job for him if you ask me."

"Well, if you put it that way…true."

And as the evening progressed, Zuko was still very aware of being the odd man out as most of the Avatar's friends gathered around one side of the campfire, while he sat alone on the other. After Aang's apparent talk with the rest of his friends, they seemed to accept his decision, but also looked far from enthusiastic about it. Haru, the Earthbender teen in particular, seemed to regard Zuko with a quiet but obvious reserve.

A simple meal was past out and eventually he was handed a portion by Haru.

"Thanks."

Haru nodded, but didn't offer further conversation. Instead he went back and sat by Katara who mostly glared at Zuko and picked at her food. When Haru leaned over and said something to her, Zuko caught the Avatar frowning.

For a while, Zuko contented himself by watching the flickering flames until laughter made him look up. He saw the Avatar's pet lemur perched on Sokka's head, its long tail wrapped around the Water Tribe boy's face. The lemur had reached down and snatched a piece of fruit out of Sokka's hand.

"Momo! Get your own food!" Sokka muffled a complaint, trying to unwrap the lemur's tail from around his mouth.

Momo jumped onto Teo's shoulder chittering happily. The young boy in his wheelchair contraption laughed. "As far as Momo is concerned, I think he just did."

"Blah!" Sokka spit fur out of his mouth. "Well…still…Momo, you need to learn a few manners!" He scratched his head and picked something out of his hair. "Not to mention you could use a bath. I think you just gave me fleas!"

After their meal, Katara suddenly got up and left the group. The Avatar stood up to follow, but Sokka held him back. "Just give her some time, Aang."

The Avatar sighed. "I guess I'll go check on Appa then."

A few minutes later, Zuko stood and stretched his cramped muscles. To know one in particular he said, "I'm going for a walk." As he left, he felt both Sokka and Haru's eyes on his retreating back.

Zuko strolled about the Temple grounds in the warm evening air until he finally came across the Avatar. Aang was airbending several bundles of hay in a pile before the giant bison.

He looked up as Zuko approached but remained silent.

"Guess I'm not making much of an impression," Zuko said.

Aang shrugged. "It's going to take some time. It's a big adjustment for everyone."

Zuko crossed his arms casually. "If you don't mind me saying, you've got a rather rag tag bunch of followers here."

Aang gave Zuko an annoyed and defensive look. "They may not seem like much to you, but they all are very brave and loyal friends!"

Zuko sighed. "I didn't mean for it to come out that way."

Aang airbended some melons into Appa's mouth. "We had to leave the adults behind during the invasion, including Haru, Teo and Katara and Sokka's fathers," he attempted to explain. "They don't trust you for obvious reasons but right now they all are just worried about their families. Haru's father, Tyro, spent five years already in a Fire Nation prison before Katara, Sokka and I helped free them. It wasn't a pleasant experience. The Duke...well...he doesn't have any parents; both of his were killed in a Fire Nation raid. He's an orphan, like me I guess you can say in a way."

"You were raised by the monks, right?"

Aang nodded. "Air Nomad children were raised a little differently than the other nations. Because there were so few of us born at one time, the Air Nomads considered us sacred, their most prize treasure. Also, unlike the other nations, all the children of the Air Nomads could bend. So when we became old enough to start our formal training, the monks brought us to the temples. But I always felt closest to my master, Monk Gyasto. He was really funny and always seemed to know how I felt. I still miss him a lot sometimes." Aang stroked the bison's fur. Appa gave him an affectionate growl back. "Now Appa and I are the last of the Airbenders."

"I'm sorry."

"Me too, but I'm not without a family." Aang said. "Sokka, Katara and Toph and the rest of my friends, they are my family now. We protect each other."

Zuko nodded in understanding.

He suddenly heard a sound and turned to find Sokka and Haru standing a few feet away.

"Everything all right Aang?"

"Yeah, I'm fine guys."

The two youths nodded and disappeared back into the darkness.

Later that night, when all had settled down to sleep under the stars, Zuko had a dream about his mother. She was sitting in a quiet garden, very similar to the one he would often find her in at the Royal Palace. In her hand she held a white lotus flower gazing serenely out at the turtle-ducks in the pond. As he approached, she looked up and smiled.

As Zuko reached out to her, he was suddenly startled awake. The image quickly vanished like a wispy puff of smoke.

He opened his eyes and found himself staring into a pair of big saucery eyes.

"Momo, come back here!" The lemur jumped off his chest and up into the some nearby trees.

The next instant The Duke skidded to a halt a few feet from him.

Zuko rose up on his elbows, realizing it was daylight.

The young boy regarded him cautiously.

Zuko looked around. "Where's everyone?"

"They've been up for a few hours now. Guess you just like to sleep in."

Though Zuko felt a little annoyed by the statement, he couldn't deny it. Since his return to the Fire Nation, he'd grown accustomed to the habit of sleeping in again.

"Where's the Avatar?"

"I think he's with Toph training. I…I…gotta go." The young boy hurriedly raced off.

A little later Zuko decided to explore the area. He wandered the grounds of the Western Air Temple for some time before venturing inside one of the tall stone structures. His footsteps echoed within the abandoned halls. Occasionally he came across a faded mural or badly chipped statue cut into the stone wall depicting the Air Benders of long ago.

Eventually he exited out the other side and heard a metallic clanging sound. He followed it and found Sokka and Teo in another garden bent over a rather large piece of dented metal. The massive bison lay under a tree napping.

Teo looked up and noticed Zuko standing a few feet away. He nudged Sokka.

Sokka glanced up and frowned.

"What are you doing?" Zuko asked.

"Trying to fix Appa's amour. It was badly damaged in the attack."

Zuko looked at the twisted metal plate charred black.

"It's no use though. It's pretty badly damaged and I don't have the right equipment to repair it."

"Maybe Toph can fix it?" Teo suggested.

"Maybe…though Toph's specialty is ripping metal apart, not fixing it."

Zuko examined the plate. "Looks like you just need some heat to soften the metal up enough to pound it back into shape."

"Well I don't exactly have a blacksmith shop on the premises here," Sokka replied sarcastically.

"Why don't you get the Avatar to help you?."

"Aang? Why would you think he could help? I mean, he's great kid, but well let's just say he's mechanically challenged."

"It's easy enough with firebending."

Sokka gave Zuko an odd look. "Aang doesn't really know how."

"Oh?" Zuko replied curiously. "Well, mind if I try?"

Sokka looked at him skeptically and stood up. "Knock yourself out," he said with a touch of sarcasm.

Zuko took a deep breath and concentrated. Extending his hand, he produced a steady stream of fire directly on the metal. After a minute or two, the metal began to glow and turn red.

Sokka peeked from around Zuko's back, one brow arching curiously upwards, his mouth turned in a lopsided frown.

Zuko stopped bending and crossed his arms. "Try it now."

Sokka looked at Teo who shrugged.

Reluctantly, he picked up the hammer and started pounding. To his apparent surprise, the softened metal started to bend back into place.

"Okay…so that _might_ work," Sokka conceded reluctantly.

Zuko grinned.

Over the next hour or so they worked together to repair the plate, alternating between softening the metal through his Firebending and Sokka hammering it out.

It required a great deal of concentration for Zuko to keep up the steady stream of intense flame for even for a few minutes at a time and he was covered in sweat by the time they were finished.

"Looks almost brand new again," Teo commented, impressed.

"Well…uh…thanks for the help," Sokka finally muttered.

"No problem," Zuko replied.

"Now that you and Zuko fixed the amour Sokka, do you think you can help me rebuild my glider device to attach to my wheelchair? I kinda miss not being able to fly."

"Sure, Teo."

"I'll leave you two alone then," Zuko said.

As Zuko took his leave he saw The Duke walking by waving towards Sokka and Teo. He carried a fishing pole laden with fish hung on a string at the end.

Zuko left the garden deciding what he really wanted was somewhere to wash up and possibly find some food. He entered another wing of the Air Temple and after making several wrong turns he became frustrated at getting lost. Eventually he came upon a large room with a cathedral ceiling and a massive set of double doors. On the doors were several large pipes scrolled into the Air Nomad insignia.

Similar to the set he'd seen once in Avatar Roku's temple, but with the Fire Nation insignia on it, Zuko immediately knew what it was. It was the chamber doors leading into the Air Nomad's most private sanctuary. Like the one's which had once existed in Roku's temple, before the entire temple had been destroyed, they could only be opened by the Avatar's sages or the Avatar himself.

Zuko stood gazing at the doors for a long time, wondering what existed beyond. But he knew there would be no way to open them and eventually left the room and found his way back outside.

He followed a path which lead through a tunnel of overgrown vines to a section of the temple which was almost completely collapsed and lay in ruins. Despite the overgrowth of vines and trees which had sprouted between the cracks, it was still easy to see its destruction had not come from natural erosion but at the hands of the Fire Nation.

It was then he spotted the Avatar.

Aang was standing next to a partially collapsed wall and peering, somewhat peculiarly around the other side.

Zuko quietly approached. "What are you looking at?"

Aang spun around, startled, raising his staff defensively towards Zuko.

"Uh…nothing!" Aang blushed.

Zuko looked at him oddly.

Quietly he peered around the side and saw Katara dangling her feet in a pool of water with the Eartbbender Haru sitting next to her. They seemed to be engrossed in a quiet conversation, unaware they where being watched. Katara's mouth was turned down.

"What were you doing, spying on them?" Zuko asked.

"Spying? Of course not!" Aang denied. "I was…just looking for Katara to make sure she was all right!"

He saw Haru place a hand gently on her lap. "She seems like she's in good hands," Zuko commented. "Are they an item?"

"What???"

"You know, girlfriend, boyfriend thing?"

"Of course not! Haru is just a friend!"

Zuko looked back at the pair as Katara looked up at Haru and smiled. "If you say so."

The Avatar frowned deeply.

"Anyway, it's good I found you. I want to talk to you."

"About what?"

"Let's take a walk."

The Avatar regarded him curiously but followed. Zuko led him back into one of the smaller gardens.

"Sokka mentioned something earlier that I was curious about."

"What?"

"He said you didn't know how to firebend. I just assumed, as the Avatar, you had mastered that already."

Aang looked down at the ground. "Mastering all four elements takes years of training. I never had that luxury. I mastered waterbending in the Northern Water Tribe and with Katara's help. Toph taught me earthbending." Aang gripped his staff. "I was able find a master firebender to teach me for a short time but…I wasn't ready."

There was a look on Aang's face that indicated a great sadness Zuko didn't quite understand.

"Aang…if you will accept my help, I can teach you to firebend."

Aang bit his lip.

Zuko saw his hesitation. "Is it because you still don't trust me?"

Aang shook his head. He looked out into the gardens. "No, it isn't that."

Zuko frowned. "Then why?"

"Because I still fear the ability to control it. Master Jeong-Jeong told me Fire's nature is to consume and destroy. Without discipline and restraint it will destroy everything and everyone around me. He told me I wasn't ready for it, that I was too impatient. I didn't listen to him and I ended up burning Katara." He fiddled with his staff. "I know it's something I need to master, but it's also something I don't want to." Aang sighed. "As the Avatar I sometimes have unbelievable power, but I also risk hurting other people."

Zuko gazed down at the Avatar and saw the boy within. Suddenly, for the first time he began to realize the weight that this twelve year old kid had to bear.

"It's true fire is different from any of the other elements. It's not an element that's manipulated from an existing form like the rest, but has to be created and controlled in a delicate balance. But I can teach you how to master it…if you will trust me."

After several long seconds, Aang looked up at him as if he'd come to a decision. "All right Zuko, I'll accept your offer to train me."

Zuko nodded. "Very well. We'll start immediately!"

(author's note: Thanks again for the feedback on this chapter. It's most appreciated and I've revised this chapter a bit and added a few new things to hopefully strengthen the story up a bit. Because the story in told in Zuko's perspective it's proving both challenging and interesting to present the story but hopefully in upcoming chapters I can bring out the characters more indepthly. Please keep your feedback coming because I really do want to keep the characters as true to the series as possible.)


	4. Chapter 4: Firebender's Lesson

**Chapter 4:**** Firebender's Lesson**

Zuko stood in the center of the small garden, the sun warming his bare back while Aang's smaller frame stood in a similar fashion as Sokka walked by carrying some wooden poles. "Hey, Aang, what's up?"

"Not much, Zuko here is just going to teach me a little Firebending."

"Sounds good, have fun." Sokka replied, sounding a little distracted and started to walk away. Suddenly he stopped and turned back around. "He's going to do WHAT?!"

"Zuko is going to teach me to firebend," Aang replied matter-of-factly.

"Aang…I don't think that's such a good idea."

"Why not? I mean, after all Zuko is a Firebender and I do need someone to teach me."

"But…but...but…" Sokka tried to argue, but saw Aang's determination and let out a defeated sigh. "You're going to do this anyway no matter what I say, aren't you?"

Aang's smile made Sokka frown. "Why don't you stay and watch," he suggested.

Sokka looked from Aang to Zuko and back to Aang and his frown deepened. "Very well, but I'll watch from over there," he indicated to a bench across the courtyard next to a group of trees.

Zuko looked at him oddly. "Why do I get the feeling he's a bit paranoid by this prospect."

Aang shrugged, "I don't know."

"Firebenders get their power from the sun," Zuko started to review the basics, "But the energy to create fire comes from the breath."

The Avatar rolled his eyes. "Does this mean I'm going to have to squat and do breathing exercises for hours now?"

"Huh?" Zuko looked down at him oddly. "Why? Were you planning on holding your breath through this whole exercise?"

Aang laughed and smiled. "Well…Airbenders can hold their breaths a pretty long time."

Zuko gave him an annoyed look.

Aang stopped smiling. "Uh…sorry. Continue," he said more seriously.

"The energy passes through the muscle and is concentrated at a single point where a firebender wills it to become heated. The energy is then released from the hand as fire in a single uninterrupted flow…like this…"

Zuko stood tall, knees slightly bent, one fist clenched tightly near his chest, the other extended outward. Taking a deep breath, he stepped forward and as he did so brought his fist forward in a jabbing motion. A burst of fire shot forth about ten feet away.

Aang nodded. "Got it."

Zuko watched the Avatar take the proper stance. He breathed in and mimicked the movement Zuko had shown him and brought his fist forward.

Nothing happened. He tried again with the same result. After the third time he looked frustrated. "I don't understand. I mean, I actually made fire once before."

"Well, you're obviously thinking like an Airbender again and trying to manipulate something that doesn't exist. Fire has to be created first. You have to _will_ it into being."

"As if it's like a living thing?"

Zuko nodded.

"That's how Master Jeong-Jeong tried described it to me."

Aang tried again while Zuko observed. This time as he took a breath and brought his fist forward, a small wimpy flame emerged followed by a puff of black smoke.

Aang scratched his head and Sokka laughed. "Wow, that was exciting."

Zuko crossed his arms. "Not bad, but I don't think you're really trying either."

The Avatar threw both Zuko and Sokka annoyed looks. Aang took his position again and repeated the process with a little more determination. This time a flame shot out of his hand, but then he suddenly let out a resounding yelp.

Sokka raced over to his side, "Aang are you all right?"

Aang held his hand grimacing, tears springing to his eyes. "What happened?" he asked in frustration.

"You hesitated," Zuko replied. "Aang you have to be sure of yourself when you bend fire. You have to _will_ its creation and then _control_ it. When you create fire it has to be released in one fluid movement, otherwise it's like a savage creature and it will turn back against you."

"Now you tell me!"

Zuko looked down at Aang's hand. It was very red but luckily not blistered.

"Aang I think you should stop and have Katara come look at this," Sokka said concerned.

"No! I want to get this right!"

"You don't have to prove anything to me, Avatar," Zuko replied.

"I'm not. I need to prove this to myself. I'm all right Sokka. I want to continue."

"I still don't think this is a good idea," Sokka said but reluctantly retreated back to his bench across the courtyard.

Aang looked up at Zuko. "You're right. I did hesitate at the last second. I felt the energy transforming and growing and became afraid of it again, of what it can do. Guru Pathik told me that my Fire Chakra controls my willpower and is blocked by shame. To find balance as the Avatar, he said I can't deny any part of who I am. The Avatar _is _a Firebender and I need to release my shame and fear and open my willpower."

Fire Chakra? Zuko had never heard of such a thing. "That guru of yours sounds just like my uncle. Did he ply you with tea along with the advice?

"No…actually it was onion and banana juice. It's not bad really, once you get used to it. Has an aftertaste of pickles though."

Zuko grimaced in disgust. "And I thought tea was bad."

Aang looked up at him seriously. "I need to master this, Zuko."

Zuko nodded in understanding. "All right. This time as you will the fire into being, be confident, don't hesitate. You are its master, not the other way around. And the movement is forceful and forward like this…" Zuko did several quick jabs in rapid succession, each emitting a burst of intense heat.

Aang nodded. Zuko watched the Avatar close his eyes for several seconds breathing in and out steadily. This time as he took his stance and brought his fist forward Zuko could see the determination on his face was much more sharply focused. The streak of fire that erupted from his fist was straight and true.

"I did it!" he exclaimed excitedly.

Unfortunately Aang had extended the stream a bit farther than he'd anticipated and suddenly the group of trees nearby ignited in a fiery blaze.

His eyes widened and he quickly bended a wave of water out of the nearby pond onto the flames. A huge cloud of black billowing smoke rose from the charred remains.

It was then they both noticed Sokka, who unfortunately had been sitting in the wake of the water. Drenched, both eyebrows slowly came down into a single thick line, his mouth anchored into a permanent frown.

Aang cringed. "Uh…sorry Sokka."

Sokka mumbled something about already regretting adding Zuko to the team.

Zuko tried to keep the smirk off his face. "Well Avatar, I'd say that was a good start. We just need to work on fine tuning the control a bit more."

Aang smiled a little embarrassed. "Yeah."

Just then they saw Katara racing around the corner. She came to a halt. "What's going on here?! I just saw a huge fire ball and a cloud of black smoke."

Still soaking, Sokka pointed to Zuko.

Katara reeled on him and Aang held up his hands blocking her advance. "Wait, Katara."

It was then she saw Aang's burnt hand and gasped. "Aang you're hurt! What did you do to him?!" she demanded, fury in her eyes.

"Katara, he didn't do anything, I did this to myself. Zuko was teaching me to firebend."

"What?!" Katara turned to her brother. "And you let him?!"

Sokka lifted a wet finger in protest. "But...but...but..."

Ignoring her brother, Katara bended some water from the oilskin pouch on her back and into her hands and quickly covered Aang's burnt flesh. She concentrated and as Zuko watched, the water turned an opaque bluish-white and began to glow.

Aang stopped grimacing and sighed.

When she removed her hands a few minutes later, Aang's skin was back to normal.

Zuko was impressed. Of course he knew Katara was a water healer. She'd revealed that part of herself to him the day they'd been trapped in the caves beneath Ba Sing Se together, but he'd never seen one in action before.

"Thanks, Katara. That feels a _lot_ better."

But Katara was far from being pacified. "Aang, what were you thinking?!"

"Katara I'm fine."

"You are now! You could have been seriously hurt! This is crazy!"

"No it's not Katara. You know I need to master firebending eventually. I've been avoiding it ever since I burned you while training with Master Jeong-Jeong."

"Aang…"

"No, listen Katara. Master Jeong-Jeong was right back then. I wasn't ready. I hadn't mastered Water and Earth yet and I was too impatient, but I'm ready now."

"But Aang…"

"Katara, you need to trust me. If I'm ever to become a fully realized Avatar I need to master all _four_ elements."

"I know…but with Zuko?"

"Katara, Zuko offered to teach me. He's here and I need a master," Aang said with determination.

Katara compressed her lips. "Fine Aang, but this doesn't mean I have to like it one bit!" she said and stormed off.

Zuko looked down at the Avatar. "Well…all and all, I'd say that went over pretty well."

Aang sighed and bit his lip. "Yeah…"

Sokka left, intending on finishing his project with Teo. Aang and Zuko continued to practice a bit more. To Zuko's surprise, by the end of their session, the Avatar had shown remarkable improvement.

A few hours later Zuko walked back towards the temple ruins alone. Aang had left to find Toph. As he walked along the overgrown path, a large shadow crossed over the ground.

Zuko looked up at the cloudless sky and thought he'd glimpsed the tip of something dark as it disappeared behind the one of the tall towers of the temple. He wondered what it was, but then dismissed it thinking it likely to be the flying bison.

When he got to the pools near the ruins, anticipating a cool dip, he found Katara there instead. But this time she was alone. Dressed in bathing attire, she stood knee deep, manipulating a stream of water about her. He watched her for several minutes as she rhythmically streamed the water back and forth.

It was then Katara spotted him. The stream of water suddenly shot towards him with lightening speed, and Zuko had to duck quickly to avoid it.

"What are you doing here?!"

"Not spying of you, if that's what you're thinking," Zuko said. He saw her icy look of disbelief and sighed. "I just came here hoping to cool down after training with Aang."

"Well sorry, this spot is taken!"

"Fine," Zuko said and started to leave.

Katara sighed. "Wait."

Zuko turned.

"I guess you can stay, I wanted to talk to you anyway."

Zuko looked at her suspiciously. "Fine, as long as your "talk" doesn't involve freezing me into a block of ice."

"Well, I guess that would depend on your answers," Katara replied.

Zuko's eyes narrowed. Had that been a hint of amusement in her tone?

He slipped into the water at the far end of the pool and submerged, swimming the length of the pool before resurfacing. Katara had moved over to where one of the ancient columns, which had once majestically surrounded the entire pool, had fallen partially in the water. She sat on one of the broken sections drawing her knees up.

Zuko treaded water in the center of the pool a safe distance away, then realized the futility of that train of thought being surrounded completely by water.

"So, how did the rest of Aang's training session go?" Katara inquired.

"Fine. After that somewhat shaky start, he actually seemed to pick up the lesson pretty fast. A lot faster than I ever did," Zuko added with an inflection of envy in his tone.

Katara grinned slightly. "I'm not surprised. That sounds like Aang all right."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, he is the Avatar, after all. He's had to learn these things a thousand times before."

"I guess so."

Katara smirked. "But, it still can be little annoying though."

Zuko looked at her quizzically.

"I'm not trying to put Aang down or anything, but it's easy to feel just a little annoyed at him sometimes at the rate he picks things up. When I first started teaching Aang, before we got up to the Northern Water Tribe, I was still learning myself. When we found that waterbending scroll with all these complex moves on it, Aang just seemed to master it immediately, while I struggled."

Zuko nodded. "I can relate. My sister was a lot like that. A prodigy and my father's favorite. Everything always came easy to her. It annoyed me to no end." Zuko swam over to the edge of the pool and leveraged himself up on the edge, sitting about five feet away from Katara. He sighed. "Guess that's part of the reason why I was so angry towards Aang too," Zuko confessed. "It seemed like everything was just handed to him without ever having to work at it."

"It hasn't been _that_ easy," she said defensively. "Aang's had to make a lot of adjustments in a very short amount of time. It's a lot of pressure, especially when he didn't have anyone to guide him half the time," Katara said heatedly. "But despite all he's lost, all the obstacles he's had to face and the hardships we had to endure, he never stops trying."

"I'm beginning to see that."

Katara dipped her ankle in the water. "But more than that, and what's most amazing about him, is his capacity not to hold hate in his heart. He's got more reason than any of us to hate, but he doesn't."

She paused. "I wish I could say the same." Katara continued bitterly, looking directly at Zuko. "My feelings about you haven't changed. Aang is an amazing kid, but he can be so naive at times. I agreed to let you stay, but I don't think I'll ever be able to trust you fully again, Zuko. I reached out to you once in friendship and got burned. I don't want that to happen to Aang."

"I know."

"No, you really don't!" Katara snapped. She stood up, her voice becoming thick with emotion. "I was so stupid! If I had used that healing water from the Spirit Oasis on your scar that day, Aang might never have survived…All of us may have lost our only hope to end this war…and I nearly lost my best friend!" Katara looked down at Zuko for several intense seconds, before turning and walking away.

Zuko made no attempt to stop her. He had no response, no idea what to say. He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. He still had much to learn, he guessed.

That evening, over the campfire and a meal of freshly caught fish, Zuko didn't mind the partial silent treatment he got from the group. His mind was on his own thoughts and he was content to just listen.

As Aang regaled the group about his Firebending lesson, Haru shot Zuko a strange look, but by the time Aang had gotten to the part of nearly drowning Sokka, The Duke and Teo had broken down into laughter.

Sokka just gave them a sour look. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. Always the butt of the jokes around here! What ever happened to your admiration for Mr. Idea guy?"

Teo composed himself. "Well, I appreciate you Sokka. And so does my Dad."

"Thank you Teo. Apology accepted."

"Hey, Aang, Sokka said he might even have my glider finished by tomorrow!" Teo said excitedly.

"That's great!" Aang replied.

"Yeah, I can't wait to try it out!"

Through a mouthful of fish, Sokka replied, "Well, luckily Teo had a copy of the Mechanist's design plans for it." He looked over at Aang's portion of fish. "You going to eat that?"

"No, help yourself." Instead he grabbed another piece of fruit.

Sokka smiled and greedily took it. "Aang, you don't know what you're missing. I know you don't eat meat, but is fish technically considered meat anyway?"

Aang scrunched up his face as Sokka inhaled the fish. "Close enough."

As Zuko listened, to his surprise, he found the camaraderie almost enjoyable. They seemed to have no false airs about them, and despite their current hardships, still found ways to laugh and enjoy each other's company. It was something very new to Zuko.

(author's notes: please provide constructive feedback! And sorry guys, I couldn't quite get Katara to trust Zuko yet. She doesn't break that easily, lol. Anyway, more chapters to follow once I can get a descent outline figured out.)


	5. Chapter 5: Zuko's Little Mishap

**Chapter 5: Zuko's Little Mishap**

The next day Zuko went looking for Aang for his second firebending lesson. As he was slowly beginning to realize, the Avatar was usually the first up and full of energy. By the time Zuko rose, he was long gone doing whatever an Avatar typically does, though Zuko wasn't exactly sure what that entailed. The only thing Zuko _was_ certain about was he was spending most of his time just trying to track the Avatar down.

He smiled ironically. Like he hadn't been doing _that_ for the last three years already! Though his reasons for seeking the Avatar out had now changed, he wondered if this was going to be a life long habit.

After checking the Temple ruins without luck, Zuko headed back across the compound where he ran into Sokka and an excited Teo. They were on their way to explore the inside of the temple in hopes of finding some suitable material to make the wings for the glider.

He was told Aang had taken off with The Duke about an hour earlier heading for the East Gardens.

Teo practically dragged Sokka inside jabbering excitedly about the prospect of getting the glider finished soon.

On his way to the East Gardens, Zuko happened to be passing by the area Sokka and Teo had been working on the glider in and stopped briefly to examine the progress. Looking at the skeletal framework, Zuko was doubtful the thing would ever get off the ground. He also couldn't see what the thrill in flying was all about either. Having spent three days following the Avatar in the balloon, not to mention the harrowing ride he'd taken with Aang, Zuko was more than happy to keep his feet planted solidly on the ground.

He was about to continue on his way when he noticed something in the dirt that caught his attention. He reached down and picked up the object, examining it curiously. It was a lotus tile from a Pai Sho board game.

As he fingered the inlaid tile, his thoughts turned to his uncle who had as much of a passion for a good game of Pai Sho as a cup of rare tea. Unfortunately, when his uncle's two favorite passions were combined, it usually meant Zuko was in for an endless night of long winded stories filled with ancient wisdom and advice. Towards the end of the evening, all Zuko had wanted to do was find the nearest hard object to bash his head against.

But now, as Zuko gazed down at the lotus tile, he wished more than anything he could talk to his uncle again. After Zuko had finally gotten up the courage to confront his father, he had planned on freeing Iroh from the prison cell he'd been placed in after being dragged back from Ba Sing Se in chains. He had hoped together they would join forces with the Avatar.

But everyone, including Zuko, had once again underestimated the Dragon of the West. The old man had taken matters into his own hands, busted himself out and disappeared during the chaos of the invasion. Though Zuko was glad his uncle wasn't rotting in a prison cell anymore, he had no idea where he had vanished to either. And after all Zuko had said and done to him, he wondered if Iroh would ever forgive him.

Zuko pocketed the tile, his mood once again somber. When he reached the other side of the Temple, he looked down from the stone courtyard above and discovered a series of open fields and smaller gardens below laid out in a tiered configuration, arcing around the perimeter of the great wall. He surmised the fields had probably been used by the Air Nomads for various agricultural crops.

A wide stone staircase running along the wall led down into the gardens. Zuko descended the steps looking for Aang. After checking several sections without luck he noticed The Duke perched on a very large boulder some distance a way. The Duke waved to him the same time he spotted Aang.

Zuko turned his attention to the Avatar who was standing completely alone in the middle of rocky torn up field. He was squatting with his arms bent, palms facing inward and…Zuko squinted…wearing a blindfold??? Aang stood perfectly motionless and after several minutes Zuko wondered if this was some odd form of Air Nomad meditation.

But as he approached the Avatar from the side, Aang suddenly turned and with lightening speed brought his fist forward. A slab of rock erupted from the earth and barreled straight towards him. Zuko acted quickly and brought up a fire shield in an attempt to block it, but unfortunately, wasn't quite fast enough. The rock slammed into his ribs sending him airborne. He came down hard about twenty feet away and knew no more as his head smacked hard against the ground.

Through the darkness Zuko slowly became aware of voices…

"Aang did you kill him?" Someone asked.

"Nah…he's still alive. I can feel his heart beating, but congratulations, I think you just knocked him out cold, Twinkle Toes."

Zuko then felt one eye being pried open and saw a blurry Aang staring anxiously at him. "Zuko…Zuko…are you okay???"

Slowly he opened both eyes. Four faces were bent over him: Aang, Toph, Haru and the Duke, who was busy munching on a peach.

Zuko groaned. "Are you deliberately trying to kill me, Avatar?"

Toph laughed.

A sheepish blush crept over Aang's face. "Uh…sorry Zuko…I...uh…mistook you for Toph."

Zuko gave him a dry annoyed look and tried to raise himself up on his elbows but fell painfully back, gripping his side as needles of pain shot through his body. He also felt the back of his head which now had a nice lump on it.

"Next time you should really look first before walking into the middle of an Earthbender training session," Toph suggested.

Zuko threw the blind Earthbender a sour look forgetting that she couldn't see. "I'll try and remember that next time I see someone _blindfolded_."

Haru grinned and eventually offered his hand as Zuko awkwardly tried to get to his feet. He grimaced as he stood holding his side and, to his annoyance, found he needed to lean on the Earthbender for support. Every breath came with a sharp stabbing pain. "I think I broke a rib or two."

"Well, at least your aim is improving, Twinkle Toes," Toph said.

Aang bit his lip, embarrassed.

Haru wrapped Zuko's arm around his shoulder. "Come on, we better see if Katara can fix you up."

Zuko looked up at the Eartbender. "I think I'd rather keep the broken ribs," he replied dryly.

The young Earthbender chuckled.

With Zuko leaning against Haru, the group slowly made their way back to their base camp. The Duke had run up ahead to try and find Katara.

When they got back, Zuko leaned up against the edge of a low lying wall exhausted, sweat beading his brow. While they waited for Katara, Aang stood anxiously next to him.

"I'm really sorry, Zuko."

"I thought you were meditating."

"Huh?"

Zuko indicated the blindfold, now hanging loosely about Aang's neck.

"Oh. No, this is how I train with Toph."

Zuko looked at him cluelessly.

The Avatar explained. "Toph is teaching me to use my Earthbending to sense my surroundings and to be able to anticipate my opponent's next moves. I'm getting better, but uh…I still have a little trouble distinguishing specifics. I thought you were either Haru or Toph trying to sneak up on me."

The Duke returned shortly with Katara in tow. "What happened?" she asked.

"Aang…Earthbender training session…self explanatory," Toph replied.

Katara looked at Zuko holding his side.

"I sorta accidentally broke a few of Zuko's ribs when he walked into one of my practice sessions," Aang attempted to explain.

Katara mouth split into an amused grin. "I see."

Zuko threw her a sour look. "I'm glad all of you find this so amusing."

"Well, we have to get our entertainment somewhere," Toph jested.

"Do you think you can heal him, Katara?" Aang asked anxiously.

Katara sighed. "Let me have a look."

Zuko gingerly pulled up his shirt. His side was already turning a nice shade of black and blue.

The Duke peered around Katara munching on another piece of fruit. "Wow, that's a BIG bruise."

"No kidding!" Zuko snapped.

Katara tried hard to suppress a giggle as she extracted some water from her pouch into both palms and placed her hands along Zuko's ribcage. He grunted and instinctively pulled back.

"Hold still!"

Zuko reluctantly did as he was told, feeling a bit humiliated by the whole encounter. A few seconds later however, he felt a strange sensation running through his side. It felt both hot and cold and tingly all at the same time.

Katara's eyes remained closed for several minutes as she concentrated while Aang and The Duke looked on like fascinated bystanders.

After several minutes she removed her hands and to Zuko's surprise, he was able to breath again without hot daggers shooting through his side.

"It will still be sore for a few days, but I think you'll live."

Zuko rubbed his bruised ribcage. "Thanks," he reluctantly replied.

Sokka and Teo wandered into camp a few minutes later. The Duke lost no opportunity in filling them in. Sokka was grinning from ear to ear. "Guess Aang's officially broken you into the Gaang. Get it? Gang…Aang?"

The Duke giggled. "That's pretty funny."

Zuko rolled his eyes, clearly not amused.

He rose slowly to his feet grimacing. "I guess we'll need to postpone your next firebending lesson until tomorrow, Avatar."

"Oh..Umm..It's okay," Aang replied. There was a sudden serious quietness in his tone. "I was going to do something else anyway today."

The Avatar turned to Katara and Sokka. The emotional change on his face had Katara's full attention. "Are you sure Aang?"

The Avatar nodded. "I'm ready."

Toph also seemed to sense the change in Aang's demeanor and stepped forward and grabbed Haru. "Come on Haru, let's show Teo and The Duke here how Earthbenders can rumble."

"Okay, but you're not going to make me wear a blindfold are you?" Haru said a little nervously.

"Nah…and I promise I'll go easy on you."

Haru threw Katara a worried look as Toph dragged him off with Teo and The Duke giggling behind.

As Aang started walking towards the temple, Katara looked back at Zuko uncertainly. Aang stopped and said to Katara. "It's okay. He can come."

Though the expression on Katara's face clearly indicated her disapproval, she held her tongue and Zuko found himself following the Avatar and the two Water Tribe siblings.

"Where are we going?" Zuko asked.

"To the Temple Sanctuary," Katara replied.

(Author's notes: Next chapter soon to follow. Updates on the previous chapters are mostly to correct the spelling/grammer errors. Thanks for catching them! Feeback is always appreciated.)


	6. Chapter 6: The Air Nomad Santuary

**Chapter 6: The Air Nomad Sanctuary**

The Avatar looked very small as he stood before the massive doors to the Air Nomad Sanctuary. He stared up at the intricate scroll work of pipes inlaid on the thick wooden doors.

"These ones look different from the Southern Air Temple, Aang," Katara said.

"They are, but I've been studying them. There are three chamber locks," Aang replied, pointing to three circular Air Nomad insignias on the doors. "They have to be opened simultaneously. Normally, it would take three Airbenders to open them."

"Can you do it?" Katara asked.

Aang nodded. "I think so."

Zuko curiously watched from the sides as the Avatar closed his eyes and breathed deeply in. He then started to form an airball, manipulating the current faster and faster. The airball started to grow bigger, until its mass was nearly the size of the Avatar himself.

Aang suddenly threw the airball up into the air and as it descended back down, he did a double fisted punch. The air ball split into three exact smaller replicas and with lightening speed, he quickly propelled them forward, one into each of the three pipes simultaneously.

Zuko heard the resonating tones as the air rushed through the brass pipes. A second later, the three circular locks rotated inward and there was a gush of air as the massive doors slowly swung open.

The interior of the sanctuary was illuminated in soft light as Aang stepped inside, followed by his friends. Zuko entered last, feeling as if he were stepping over the threshold into unknown territory yet again.

The inside of sanctuary was massive and circular in design, with a cathedral ceiling that arched high above and disappeared into the shadows.

The first thing Zuko noticed were four massive stone statues erected in the center of the room in a circle.

He quietly followed as the Avatar walked around the outer perimeter and examined each one closely. Zuko could see each intricately carved figure appeared to represent one of the Four Nations: Water, Earth, Fire and Air.

"Great! More statues. Why am I not surprised?" Sokka commented, then let out a yelp as his sister slugged him in the arm.

"Little respect here," Katara muttered.

Sokka shrugged. "Hey, I'm just saying it would be nice to find something else interesting in these places beside a bunch of dead guys carved in stone. No offense to your former selves, Aang." He saw the look of annoyance on Katara's face and held up his hands. "Okay, okay….I'll be nice."

"Do you know who they are, Aang?" Katara asked.

Aang looked up into the face of the statue of the Waterbender and nodded. "These are the Avatar's of the first Avatar cycle," Aang said, a little awed, "when the Spirit of the World took on a mortal form."

"How do you know that?" Zuko asked.

Sokka raised his hands. "Trust me, he knows. It's just one of those creepy Avatar things you're going to have to get used to if you're going to hang with us."

Aang pointed to each one and told them their names, which came from an ancient language long since forgotten but translated to: Benevolent Water, Strong Earth, Fierce Fire and Harmonious Air.

"The Four Elements," Katara said.

Aang nodded. "They are my beginning. The Avatar Cycle of Water, Earth, Fire and Air was formed to maintain balance between the Four Nations so that no _one_ was meant to become stronger over the other."

"Guess they forgot to tell the Fire Nation that," Sokka replied sarcastically glancing at Zuko.

Zuko glared annoying back at him.

They walked further into the room until they reached the far wall.

"Hey guys, check this out," Aang said.

"What is it?" Sokka asked.

All along the wall were a series beautifully carved depictions of the Air Nomads. "It's a history of my people," Aang replied.

Zuko bended a ball of fire in his palm to illuminated the wall a little better.

Aang pointed to the first panel which showed a group of flying bison. "The bison were the first Airbenders. They taught my people how to manipulate the currents. The arrow tattoos of a Master Airbender were adapted as a way to honor them."

The next few showed the Airbenders in various martial arts positions. "We learned to draw energy from our abdomens to manipulate the air currents. An Airbender's movements are swift and circular. The first human Airbenders were called the Wind Walkers." Aang went on to explain there were thirty-six levels of airbending, each building upon the one before. To become a Master Airbender, one had to pass each level and invent a new form of airbending. "I learned thirty-five of the levels with Monk Gyatso but I got my Master tattoos a lot earlier than most of the other kids my age when I invented the air scooter."

"That hardly counts. I mean, you are after all the Avatar," Sokka said. "Those other kids didn't have a chance."

"So what's the thirty-sixth level?" Zuko asked.

Aang looked at Zuko. "I don't know. When the monks told me I was the Avatar…I was confused and scared and…I…ran away….Then Appa and I got caught in a storm and the next thing I knew, Katara and Sokka found me in the South Pole, frozen in an iceberg, a hundred years later."

"So that's what happened to you," Zuko replied. "I always wondered why my great-grandfather, grandfather and father never found you. And why, when I eventually did, you weren't some shriveled up bald-headed old geezer."

"Well, you got the bald head part right anyway," Sokka jested.

Aang grinned boyishly as he ducked away from Sokka, who tried to rub his head.

They continued to walk along the wall and Aang would occasionally comment on the various aspects of the Air Nomad's life, which was mostly peaceful and in harmony with nature.

Another showed children under the falling leaves of the trees, encircled by loving hands of adult Air Nomads. "Most of us are born in the Fall as the winds bring forth the changing season. Because there are so few Air Nomads born at a time, my people treasured each life as a gift."

However, one of the last depictions puzzled even Aang. It showed a Master Air Nomad in the clouds, drawing what looked like wind, lightening and rain within a fierce funnel of wind. His features were unlike any other of the serene depictions. Instead his face looked ominous and dark.

"What's that one mean?"

"I don't know. I've never seen any type of airbending like this."

"Maybe that's the last level?" Katara suggested.

"Maybe…" But Aang withdrew his hand from the stone as if disturbed.

They crossed back to the other side of the room, this time walking through the inner circle formed by the four statues. It was then Aang noticed another depiction, this time on the floor.

It was a celestial being, eyes aglow, a globe of energy held in its hands with rays connecting the globe to each of the four statues.

The Avatar knelt down and placed his hand on the globe caressing it softly. Zuko thought he saw the Avatar's tattoo glow ever so faintly before it faded. Aang clenched his fist and sighed deeply.

"What is it Aang?" Katara asked.

"It's the Avatar State," Aang replied quietly.

"The Avatar what?" Zuko asked.

"The Avatar State," Aang repeated. "It's the pure form of cosmic energy that gives the Avatar immense power. When the Avatar State is opened up, it allows me to tap into the skills and knowledge from all my past lives and to focus and channel the cosmic energy from them through my body." But when he looked up at Zuko there was a great sadness in his eyes. "Unfortunately, after Azula hit me with that lightening bolt, she disrupted the flow of energy and locked me out of my ability to enter into it."

Zuko listened to the Avatar's explanation, but then a thought occurred to him making him frown deeply. "The day of the invasion, you knew you couldn't enter into this power, didn't you?"

Aang nodded.

"But you were still willing to face my father alone?"

Aang nodded again. "People have pinned their hopes on the Avatar for a long time. I knew the risk I was taking. But I had to try. We thought we'd have the advantage with the solar eclipse, especially since everyone thought I was already dead. But it was a trap. Azula knew we were coming."

"Funny isn't it?" Aang said to no one in particular as he stared at the image on the floor. "I spent so much time trying to avoid the Avatar State out of fear of its immense power, that now that I can no longer tap into it, I feel like I've lost such a big part of myself."

Katara bit her lip and put her hands gently on his shoulder. "We'll find a way to get it back, Aang."

"Will we?"

Katara nodded. "I've never given up hope in you yet and I never will."

Aang blushed. "Thanks, Katara. But I just wish I knew how."

"Maybe Avatar Roku can help you," she suggested. "I mean, you've been able to connect with him several times now, maybe he can help you find the answer."

"Possibly. Though, it's usually the other way around. Avatar Roku usually contacts me," Aang replied.

"Well, what about the rest of your past lives?" Sokka asked.

"What do you mean?" Aang inquired.

"Can't you contact them? Maybe they have some ideas," he suggested.

"I don't know," Aang replied. "I've never really tried. Roku was the Avatar directly before me. I guess I'm able to speak with him the most, because his energy I've always felt the strongest."

"That's not entire true, Aang," Katara said. "You contacted Avatar Kyoshi once also. I mean, you sorta did. Avatar Kyoshi kinda borrowed your body to defend herself when you were put on trial in that weird little town that wanted to boil you in oil for something Avatar Kyoshi did in your past life."

Zuko was getting thoroughly confused by the conversation but decided it best not to interrupt.

"I suppose I can give it a try," Aang said, but his confidence didn't seem particularly strong. If anything, he looked even more depressed with yet another apparent obstacle to overcome.

Sokka looked at Katara with brotherly concern before stepping over to Aang and wrapping his forearm around him in a friendly headlock. "But not today. I've got something else in mind for you right now."

"What's that?"

Sokka gave Katara a wink. "I've finished Teo's glider and he's _dying_ to try it out with you."

Aang smiled. "Then what are we waiting for? I can't exactly disappoint my family and friends, can I?"

Katara threw her brother a forgiving smile for his earlier jerkiness as they led Aang out of the sanctuary.

Zuko lingered behind a few minutes, walking back over to the Avatar statue of the Firebender. He thought about what he'd learned of his past, of the conflict and lifelong struggles between his two great grandfathers, Avatar Roku and Firelord Sozin, and what Iroh had said to him.

Within Zuko, Iroh had told him, there would always be good and evil. It was his nature and his legacy. But also, Iroh had believed, Zuko had the power to cleanse the sins of his family and the Fire Nation and to help restore balance.

Aang had been willing to face the Firelord despite his inability to tap into the great powers of his past lives. He'd done so without thought to himself because that's just who he was…the Avatar.

But, by allowing Zuko to enter the sanctuary with him, he had exposed his deepest vulnerability to him, perhaps without even realizing it, or perhaps reaching out to Zuko in trust.

Through Avatar Roku, Zuko could feel the connection to Aang. It had been there all along, but Zuko was just beginning to understand its full meaning. Azula had taken away the Avatar's gift and Zuko made a silent pledge to help Aang find a way to get it back.

He left the sanctuary, once again feeling humbled.

(Author's notes: I tried to use a lot of the references from "The Tale of Aang" to fill in on the history of the Air Nomads, but did reach out on the creativity side about the last level of Airbending equating it to Katara's darker side of Waterbending, the Bloodbending. I also felt Zuko would have been pretty surprised to learn Aang had been willing to challenge his father without being able to tap into the Avatar State, and in turn, it would have hardened his resolve to atone for past wrong doings. Anyway, hope you enjoyed the update and feedback/comments are always appreciatied.)


	7. Chapter 7: A Little Fun in the Sun

**Chapter 7****: A Little Fun in the Sun**

When Zuko rejoined the group, he found Aang, Katara and Toph standing over Haru who was laying flat on his back breathing heavily. Toph had her arms crossed and a smile on her face. "Great work-out, Haru."

The Earthbender lifted his head wearily. "Yeah, great," he replied, as his head fell back exhausted. He was covered head to foot in dirt, not to mention a few bruises here and there.

The Avatar's pet lemur suddenly appeared from out of no where and jumped up on Aang's shoulder. "Hey, boy! There you are! I was wondering where you went to today."

Katara leaned over and looked down at the Earthbender. "Are you okay, Haru?"

"I'm fine, just as long as I don't have to move anything for about a week," Haru groaned.

Aang giggled.

"Toph, you were supposed to go easy on him," Katara berated.

Toph shrugged. "I did."

Haru opened one eye and nodded, "She did."

"Don't feel so down, Haru. You really weren't half bad," Toph replied. "You should have seen Aang when he first started earthbending. Man, did he suck!"

Haru looked up at Aang in disbelief.

Aang blushed and shrugged. "It's true. I did suck. But I couldn't help it. Earth is my opposing element. Not to mention Toph's a pretty scary Sifu sometimes," he muttered.

"Hey, no pain, no gain, Twinkle Toes."

They were suddenly interrupted by The Duke. "Come on guys, Teo's almost ready to launch off!"

With the exception of Haru, who chose to remain were he was, the group joined Sokka and Teo on top of a grassy knoll which angled downward towards the edge of a cliff.

Sokka was busy tightening the fittings that attached the glider to Teo's wedge shaped wheelchair.

Momo jumped off Aang's shoulder and onto the top of the glider's wings attempting to catch a rather fast moving grasshopper.

"Sokka, are you sure this thing is going to work?" Katara asked, biting her lip slightly.

"I followed the Mechanist's design plans exactly. Stop worrying, Sis."

Teo lifted the goggles from the top of his head and fitted them snugly around his eyes. "I'll be fine, Katara. I do this all the time back home."

While the others watched, Sokka and Aang pushed Teo into position. Sokka went over to the edge of the cliff for one last double check, as if calculating the distance needed for Teo to get adequate acceleration. He looked over the edge and gulped. His features that had shown so much confidence just a few minutes ago, looked a bit worried now. "That's a long drop down, Teo. Maybe, I should double check those design plans."

Teo laughed. "Stop worrying guys! This is going to work, you'll see. Besides, Aang's going to be right next to me the first flight."

"Yeah," Aang said, popping his glider open as Momo joined him. "Let's do it, Teo."

The Duke hopped on the back of Teo's wheelchair. "Yeah! Let's go!"

Sokka pulled The Duke off. "Whoa! Not this time little buddy!"

"Hey, no fair!" The Duke protested. "How come Teo gets to have all the fun?!"

Teo looked at The Duke, "Sokka's right. I better do this first one solo."

"Aw!" Dejectedly The Duke stepped back to the sidelines and crossed his arms.

Zuko was standing next to Toph, who at the moment, seemed to be concentrating more on digging the wax out of her ears than anything else. "You don't seem particularly interested in all this."

Toph shrugged, then yawned. "Eh. Once you've NOT seen someone fly in the air, it pretty much looks the same every time. Besides, it's not my favorite activity."

"But you travel with the Avatar all the time on his flying bison."

"There's a difference between _having_ to fly and actually _liking_ it! If I get the choice, my feet stay firmly on solid ground where I can see!"

Zuko's eyebrow arched slightly. Who would have thought he'd have something in common with the blind and rather crude Earthbender?

Aang looked at Teo. "Ready?"

Teo give him the thumbs up.

Aang looked down at the lemur. "Come on, Momo. Let's have some fun then!" The Avatar grabbed the framework of his glider and leapt into the air, using his airbending to manipulate the current and soar high above them. The flying lemur followed. He then started to circle around as Sokka and Katara gave Teo a running push-off down the hill.

Teo's wheelchair accelerated quickly, reached the end of solid ground and then propelled off the edge of the cliff. It hung in the air for a few seconds, and then dropped out of sight.

Sokka bit his nails nervously.

When Teo didn't re-appear, he closed his eyes and grabbed his sister's forearms in a death grip. "Please tell me I just didn't plunge Teo off a cliff to his death."

Katara bit her lip, eyes wide.

The all of a suddenly they heard The Duke let out a loud, "Whoop!"

Katara's mouth split open wide. "No, Sokka. Look!" she shouted.

Sokka turned around as Teo suddenly soared up into the air joining Aang. He started hopping excitedly around, an intense look of relief on his face. Katara laughed as Sokka suddenly grabbed his sister in a big bear hug and spun her around. And then to a rather startled Toph, picked her up and did the same.

"Huh! I knew I could do it!" He ran down the hill with The Duke as Aang and Teo buzzed past, both laughing as they soared high above the Western Air Temple once again and began to do a series of interweaving spirals and aeronautical flips with the lemur following along.

Zuko looked down at the still surprised Earthbender wondering why her face was flushed.

A few minutes later, Haru even managed to join them as the group watched the two friends fly. "Wow, they look great up there."

Katara's eyes were fixed to a point in the sky. "Yeah, they sure do, don't they?"

The pair criss-crossed over one another and then as they watched, Aang flipped his glider completely upside down so that he was flying directly under Teo. Maintaining the tight form, the two arced together and suddenly started a vertical plunge straight down towards the amazed group of onlookers.

Sokka's smile soon started to turn into a worried frown as the pair showed no signs of altering their course. "Uh…uh…Aang???"

Zuko was also beginning to think the two were going to crash right into the ground.

Sokka started to wave his arms frantically as the pair drew closer. His eyes bugged out and he quickly dove for cover shouting, "A…A...N…G!"

At the last second, however, the pair suddenly split off in opposing directions. Zuko could hear the two of them laughing hysterically, as they smoothly banked away.

Eventually, Aang and Teo finally descended. About fifteen feet from the ground, the Avatar snapped his glider shut and airbended gently to the ground with a wide grin on his face. Teo touched down a few seconds later and coasted to a stop.

Zuko stood on the sidelines, with arms loosely crossed and his face impassive, watching as the group of friends quickly gathered offering Teo congratulations, and a still wobbly Sokka praise for successfully building the working glider.

Momo suddenly jumped on top of Teo's head, eagerly picking the bugs out of his hair and they all started to laugh.

To Zuko's surprise, he felt his own mouth turn slightly upward at the comical scene, then noticed the Avatar watching him. The boy grinned happily before turning his attention back to his friends.

(Author's note: Hope you enjoyed this last update. Had to give Aang a little haang time, lol. Next chapter will hopefully be up soon. Thank you guys for the feedback! It's really helping me to develope the story)


	8. Chapter 8: More Mysteries Afoot

**Chapter 8: More Mysteries Afoot**

As the group once again gathered for the evening meal, Zuko awkwardly ended up taking a place next to Haru. The Earthbender threw him a sympathetic grin as Zuko slowly eased into a sitting position, his ribs still tender from his earlier mishap with Aang.

Momo was already busy trying to steal food from anyone not paying enough attention. The massive bison lay nearby, making an excellent and rather comfortable piece of furniture for Katara and The Duke to lean against, while the group listened to Teo and Aang swap flying adventure stories.

Zuko, as usual, added little to the conversation, preferring instead to absently flip the lotus tile he'd found earlier around in his hands. Truth of the matter was, Zuko disliked social gatherings and idle chit chat had never been his specialty.

He looked at the tile and thought of his uncle who had always been the exact opposite. Iroh could have a conversation with his worst enemy and still come out with belly full of good food, rare tea and another tale of wisdomly advice to pass onto his nephew.

Sokka joined them a little while later. Glancing briefly at Zuko, he sat on the other sit of Haru. "So how ya feeling, buddy?" he asked slapping the Earthbender on the shoulder.

Haru cringed.

"Oh…uh…sorry," Sokka apologized, but the tone in his voice and the smile on his face suggested he'd found Haru's earlier rumble session with Toph hilarious and insisted on getting the details.

"I'm not one to complain much, but I think Toph rattled every bone in my body loose today. Even my hair hurts!"

Sokka laughed. "Yeah, she just has that warm fuzzy loveable way about her," he replied with a touch of friendly sarcasm. "But don't worry, she grows on you like a wart after a while."

"I heard that!" Toph said from across the campfire.

"Not to mention the fact that she's got the hearing a wolf-bat," Sokka muttered under his breath, smiling.

"Heard that too!"

"So you guys never did tell me how Aang met Toph," Haru said.

Sokka grinned. "Well, my friend, that's an interesting story all by itself."

Sokka went on to tell them the whole story of how Aang had discovered Toph at an Earth Rumble Tournament where she had been better known as "The Blind Bandit".

Haru laughed over Sokka's account of Aang's rather rocky start trying to convince Toph to teach him Earthbending, when he'd inadvertently stolen Toph's championship title with an airbending trick in the main arena full of thousands of onlookers.

Later, when Aang had discovered her true identity, as the daughter of a rich Earth Kingdom family, and had used his status as the Avatar to weasel an invitation from her parents to be a guest, a food fight over the dinner table that evening between the two of them had resulted.

But Aang had been persistent and eventually learned Toph's parents were extremely overprotective and viewed their daughter's blindness as a helpless disability until Toph felt like a smothered prisoner in her own home. Being "The Blind Bandit" had been her only secret outlet in an otherwise bleak existence.

It was only after the Avatar had been kidnapped by the leader of the Rumblers and threatened to be turned over to the Fire Nation for the reward, though, did Toph finally act. Soon Earth Rumblers were sailing through the arena like rag dolls only to end up in an unconscious heap at her feet.

Afterwards, Toph had tried to make her parents understand but they ended up being even more closed minded than before. That's when Toph finally decided to take up Aang's offer.

"And since then, she pretty much goes around kicking our butts now!" he said jokingly. Sokka was suddenly jerked upward about a foot in the air. He came down hard and rubbed his derrière glancing over at Toph whose arms were crossed and looked annoyed. "Not that we don't appreciate her better qualities," he added.

Zuko grinned and found he was actually starting to like the odd little Earthbender.

Suddenly though, Sokka noticed the lotus tile in Zuko's hand he'd been absently fiddling with and reached over and snatched it. "Hey! Where'd you get that?" he demanded, his teasing tone of earlier now replaced with one of accusation.

Zuko looked at him oddly and shrugged. "I found it on the ground today."

"What is it?" Haru asked.

"It's a lotus tile. And it belongs to me!" Sokka said defensively raising his voice as he stood up and towered over Zuko.

Zuko leaned back and crossed his arms stiffly as Aang, Katara and Toph got up and walked over.

"Hey, guys, what's the problem?" Aang asked.

"I believe Sokka is implying I stole something from him," Zuko replied hardly.

"Well, how else would you have gotten it? I keep it right here in my bag rolled up in my spare pair of socks."

Sokka grabbed his carrying pouch nearby and reach inside. Aang and Katara cringed back as Sokka pulled out…a peach???

Zuko raised a single brow quizzically.

"Huh?" Sokka stuck his head in his bag and then started pulling out several more pieces of fruit, a handful of leachy nuts and…a half eaten grasshopper?

"Ewww!" Katara said in disgust.

"MOMO!" Sokka shouted.

The lemur looked up innocently, then ran over and grabbed several leachy nuts before scampering away.

Aang laughed. "Well, at least we know what Momo's been up to lately." He looked at Sokka. "And, I guess you owe Zuko an apology."

"Yeah, well…" Sokka began.

"It's okay," Zuko replied. "Let's just forget it."

"I didn't know you liked to play Pai Sho," Haru said.

"I don't. I mean, I've never played it before. This was given to me by someone who turned out to be a good friend," Sokka replied.

Zuko frowned. "Seems like an odd gift to give a friend who doesn't even know the game."

"Well, he kinda has a strange way about him. He's sorta the artsy type. Likes to paint a lot."

"Mind if I ask who it was?" Zuko inquired.

Sokka's brow came down in a curious frown. "Not that it's really any of your business, but he's a sword master I studied with for a short time."

"The one you got that fancy black sword from?" Zuko asked.

"As a matter of fact, yes."

"I saw the insignia on the handle, the first day I arrived here," Zuko said. "It's from the famous Fire Nation Sword Master Piandao."

Sokka nodded but looked startled. "How do you know that?"

Zuko rolled his eyes. "I am Fire Nation. And I do know what a professionally crafted weapon looks like. You could say it was hobby of mine."

"You actually had a hobby besides tracking the Avatar?" Sokka quipped.

Katara giggled.

Zuko chose to ignore the comment. "So why would a Fire Nation Sword Master train a nobody from the Southern Water Tribe?"

Sokka glared at him with the implied insult. "Well, I sorta didn't tell him at first. But he was smart enough to figure it out anyway." Sokka frowned. "And he somehow even knew Aang was the Avatar, even though we were all in disguise. But he told me the ways of the sword are not unique to any nation. They were for everyone. When we were leaving, he sent his butler out to give me this to remember him by."

"Yeah, and remember, Sokka, he also had that same lotus design on his front door," Aang remarked.

Zuko frowned deeply as events from a few months earlier traveling with Uncle came back to him. "I see."

"See what?" Sokka asked suspiciously.

Zuko pointed to the tile. "I think you were just handed an engraved invitation to the Order of the White Lotus."

"The Order of the what?" Sokka asked.

"The Order of the White Lotus. It's a secret order my Uncle Iroh is a part of."

"Sounds more like a flower arranging club for old geezers," Toph said.

"Well, there are a few of those in there too," Zuko remarked dryly, recalling the strange flower shop owner he met in the desert.

He went onto explain that while he and his uncle had been fugitives on the run in the Earth Kingdom, they had been chased by a group of bounty hunters. His Uncle Iroh had used a lotus tile just like this one to contact an old friend within this order through a game of Pai Sho. After a secret meeting, which unfortunately Zuko had not been invited to participate, the flower shop owner had smuggled them out of town. He had also provided them with forged documents that had allowed them to enter Ba Sing Se undetected.

Sokka looked at the tile resting in his palm. "So you mean Master Piandao is part of this secret order?"

Zuko shrugged. "Possibly."

"But what does that mean to us?" Sokka asked.

"I'm not sure. Maybe nothing…maybe everything. But you said he knew Aang was the Avatar?"

Sokka nodded.

"Then I suggest you keep that tile very close to you, Sokka," Zuko advised. "It just may save the Avatar and your friend's lives one day."

Sokka, Katara and Aang all stared down at the simply carved tile with nothing short of amazement.

Much later that night, when everyone had finally settle down for some much needed sleep and the fire had finally died out, Zuko was suddenly awakened by low growling sounds.

He sprang to a sitting position to see the Avatar's bison pacing agitatedly back and forth.

Aang was also awake, rubbing his eyes. "What is it boy?" he said sleepily. The six legged bison snorted and threw its head back.

Zuko stood up and looked around. But there wasn't much of a moon and the sky nearly pitch black. Zuko bended a ball of fire to illuminate the darkness around them.

Appa stamped his foot agitatedly and once again snorted. Aang got up and went over to the bison trying to calm him.

"What's up with him?" Zuko asked.

"I'm not sure. But he usually doesn't act this way unless something's wrong."

"Aang, what's going on?" Katara asked, stirred from her sleep.

"I think Appa's sensing something bad."

Katara shook Toph and Sokka awake as Appa continued to pace.

Toph groaned sleepily. "There better be a good reason for waking me up!"

"Toph, what do you feel?" Aang asked without preamble.

The blind Earthbender put her hands to the ground and concentrated. "I get nothing."

Appa snorted again.

"Are you sure?"

She yawned sleepily. "Whatever is bothering the big fur ball, it's not coming from the ground, unless you want to count the pack of skunk-rats in a burrow fifty paces away! Can I go back to sleep now?" Toph said irritably.

The bison suddenly threw his head up and growled into the sky. Zuko looked up and thought he saw a dark object pass by.

Sokka had apparently seen it too. "What is it?"

"I'm not sure," Aang replied.

Katara stood up and stared at the sky then turned her head suspiciously towards Zuko. "Maybe it's the Fire Nation…in those big balloons."

"I don't think so, Katara," Aang replied. "It would be pretty risky for the Fire Nation to try and fly those things through these mountain ranges and especially at night."

"How can you be sure, Aang? Zuko managed to find us!"

Sokka looked over at Zuko and frowned.

Suddenly they heard an eerie almost screeching noise way above them, followed by another some distance away.

"That doesn't sound like the Fire Nation to me," Toph remarked.

Aang grabbed his staff and popped it open. "I better go check it out!"

But before he could take flight, Zuko grabbed him by the forearm. "I don't think that's such a good idea."

Katara stepped over to Zuko. "Why not?" she demanded. "What are you trying to hide?"

Zuko threw her an annoyed and exasperated look. "I'm not trying to hide anything," he insisted, raking a hand through his hair. "But it's almost pitched black out there tonight. There's no moon to see with. The Avatar won't be able to tell what he's even up against until it's practically on top of him."

Sokka rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "As much as I hate to agree with him, I think Zuko is right." he said. "It's much too dangerous to go out there alone right now."

They heard the odd noises again, but this time, they sounded farther away.

"Then what should we do?" Aang asked.

"Our best bet is to just stick together and keep vigil." Sokka looked at Teo, The Duke and Haru who were still fast asleep. "No use waking the rest of them up. Whatever they are, they sound like they're moving away."

"Okay," Aang agreed, flicking his wrist and making the glider retract back into his staff.

"I'll take first vigil," Sokka volunteered. "The rest of you get some sleep."

"Are you sure?" Aang asked.

Sokka nodded. From his knapsack, he took out his trusted boomerang as the others settled back down for a restless sleep.

Katara laid down, but not before throwing Zuko a suspicious glance.

(Author's notes: Hope you enjoy this next update. Please provide feedback. It really helps me develope the story.)


	9. Chapter 9: Aang's Lessons

**Chapter ****9: Aang's Lessons**

The rest of the night passed without further incident, with the exception that Zuko felt he was back to square one with Katara. He had no idea what had been out there last night, but the incident had stirred up the suspicions in her mind again.

And the truth of the matter was, he wasn't exactly sure the Fire Nation wasn't close by. Though he was certain he hadn't been followed, he still could never underestimate his sister Azula's ability to track a scent.

Zuko sighed. There was little he could do about it at the moment as he headed for the courtyard garden where he was to meet Aang for his next firebending lesson.

As he quietly rounded the corner of a stone pillar leading into the courtyard he saw Aang sitting on a small stone platform next to a tranquil little pond full of lily pads. But he wasn't alone. Katara sat next to him. Both had their backs to him.

About to approach, he heard Katara. "But Aang, can't you even consider the possibility that he's just trying to get you to let your guard down long enough for the Fire Nation to find us, if they haven't already?"

"Of course I've considered that possibility. But I still believe Zuko's reasons for coming here were sincere. That he has changed."

"I thought he was sincere too, once," Katara said. "When the two of us were trapped in those caves beneath Ba Sing Se, Zuko and I had plenty of time to talk. He told me stuff that made me think he wasn't such a bad guy, either. I even felt pretty sorry for him. But we both know what happened next."

"I know," Aang sighed. "And maybe you're right."

"So why be so willing to trust him?"

"Because, at some point, even the Avatar, needs to have hope."

Zuko quietly retreated, leaving the two alone.

Over the next several days somewhat of a pattern followed as Aang resumed his firebending lessons, despite Katara's reservations.

For the most part, Zuko had little trouble finding Aang in the mornings. Most of the time, the Avatar could be found meditating in the Air Nomad Sanctuary. But Aang had been unable to gain much insight on solving the problem about his Avatar State.

However, the firebending sessions seemed cheer him up. And Zuko was surprised to see just how hard the Avatar was willing to work.

As Zuko took Aang through basic drills, he continued to emphasize that the true power of firebending came from control of breathing more than one's physical strength or size. He also reminded Aang that a Firebenders moves were always meant to be direct and forceful, even in defense.

"The mindset of a Firebender is always to win. There is no other option," Zuko said.

He demonstrated that specific breathing techniques, combined with certain striking movements of the hand or foot, would yield a specific kind of fire. A quick kick or jab, for instance, created a burst of flame, but fast punches released fireballs. Whirlwind kicks generated a blazing arc of flame, while spinning kicks created a ring of fire.

Aang's eyes widened with growing interest.

Zuko also explained that when Firebenders combined their energy together they could shoot missiles of flame that could travel a greater distance than a single Firebender alone could project.

Though Aang was eager to learn everything at once, Zuko started with basic drills which emphasized accuracy and proper control of breathing. And as he worked with Aang, he began to notice a certain familiarity in the phrases he used and instructions he gave, until he realized with a shudder he was starting to sound like Uncle.

In one exercise Zuko set up a series of poles of varying heights and distances while Aang curiously watched from the sidelines. He then instructed Aang to practice trying to ignite the tops of each one over and over, without touching the others or setting the ground on fire.

Aang looked at the poles. "No problem. Piece of cake!"

Aang took the stance Zuko had work with him on earlier. However when he released his blast of flame, he ended up igniting all of the poles at once and then had to quickly shoot an airblast at them to put them all out.

Sokka, who had been sitting on the sidelines with The Duke, munching on leachy nuts, burst into laughter. "So what did you wish for, Aang?"

The Avatar threw him an annoyed look.

"You're not using the proper breathing technique," Zuko reminded him.

"I'm an Airbender! I know how to breath!" Aang insisted impatiently.

"You know how to breath like an Airbender, not a Firebender. Do the drill again, and this time focus on your target!"

Aang glared irritably at Zuko, but Zuko made him repeat the exercise over and over until he was finally able to tighten his control to both their satisfactions.

Though Katara was still openly concerned about Zuko training Aang, she nevertheless went along with Aang's decision. Of course, that didn't stop her from popping in unexpectedly to check on his progress. Zuko got the distinct feeling though her visits were more to keep a suspicious eye on him.

Twice more, Katara had to use her water healing abilities to treat some minor burns Aang had inflicted upon himself as Zuko advanced the drills. And though her temper flared each time, Aang insisted on continuing.

Once he got the control and accuracy down a little better, Zuko had Aang fire several blasts at him, while Zuko produced a fire shield to block it.

He showed Aang how to create the shield, explaining it had to produce enough energy to block his opponent, but had to be maintained in tight control to keep the shield from fanning back on its creator.

Aang took his stance. "Ok, I think I got it! Fire a blast at me!"

"No. You need to practice making the shield first until I'm sure you know how to control it."

"Aw!"

They practiced for few hours until Zuko was finally satisfied before giving into Aang's nagging insistence to let Zuko attack him.

Aang and Zuko faced off. The Avatar bowed and then, in the traditional Fire Nation manner, bent his arms and placed his righ fist against the open palm of his left hand to show his respect. Zuko returned the bow in a similar manner.

Sokka, Haru and Teo happened to be walking by at that moment and stopped to watch.

Aang crouched down and took his position a few feet away from a little pond, his eyes intently focused. Standing sideways about fifteen feet away, Zuko bent his knees, brought his arms into the correct position and nodded. Then with lightening speed, he brought his right leg up in a swift extended kick. A jet of flame shot from his foot.

The Avatar's eyes widened as he quickly produced the fire shield. But he apparently miscalculated the force of Zuko's flame and had to take several steps back to compensate. Unfortunately he'd taken one step too many.

Aang cried out in alarm as he lost his balance and fell backwards into the pond. A large cloud of steam and a sizzling sound followed as the flame and splashing water came together.

Zuko, Sokka, Teo and Haru all raced over to the pond with concerned looks on their faces.

The Avatar was on his back, knees bent. Slowly his head broke the surface as he leveraged himself up on his elbows. A lily pad was stuck to the top of his head. He spit out a mouthful of muddy water then looked up at Zuko with a lopsided boyish grin. "Uh…I'm okay."

Zuko let out a sigh of relief.

A frog, which had apparently been on top of the lily pad, suddenly croaked, and then jumped off Aang's head and back into the water.

Haru, Teo and Sokka just looked at each other, eyes wide. "Not one word to Katara," Sokka said as he steered his friends away.

Aang and Zuko trained hard for several hours in the morning, but in the afternoons, Aang usually took time off to relax with his friends. Zuko found it interesting to see just how intense the Avatar could be during his training drills and how…well utterly goofy he could be a few hours later.

Since the afternoons were particularly hot, Aang and his friends liked to cool off by swimming in the pool by the ruins. To amuse his friends, he would sometimes make an ice slide for them to all play on, or manage to coax a brooding Katara into a game of water octopus tag. The result of the latter usually left anyone within the vicinity of a fifty feet, and Zuko no matter the distance, soaking wet.

Also in the few days that followed, he discovered the little Air Nomad monk was a bit of a prankster. And Sokka, unfortunately, or maybe fortunately for Zuko, was usually the main target.

One morning Sokka woke up to discover his fancy sword was firmly embedded in a rather large stone. He stormed over to Toph accusing her, rather insistently, of putting it there.

Katara's eyes slide over to Aang who was busy stuffing a bunch of fruit in his mouth and trying to look innocent. A few minutes later, Sokka found himself hanging twenty feet up in the air, the nap of his shirt snagged on the tip of a cone shaped rock pillar as Toph stood irritably at its base with her arms crossed. Katara sighed and just rolled her eyes at Aang.

It was on the fourth day of training, though, that Zuko and Aang were suddenly interrupted.

In the middle of practicing kick strikes, Haru stumbled in clutching an injured arm.

"Haru! What is it?" Aang said, racing over to his friend.

"Toph and The Duke," Haru said breathlessly. "Hurry! You've got to help them!"

"Why? What happened?" Aang demanded.

Just then they heard Toph's shrill scream from above. Zuko and Aang looked up to see three giant reptilian birds, which looked like a cross between a condor and a komodo dragon, fly by with the blind Earthbender and The Duke clutched in two of their massive hind claws. Toph was struggling to free herself as the birds quickly gained altitude and banked behind the uppermost tower of the Western Air Temple, then disappeared from site.

Aang raced over and grabbed his staff, quickly popping it open. "I'm going after them! Haru, find Katara and Sokka and hurry!" Aang leapt into the air.

Holding his injured arm, Haru turned and awkwardly raced towards the rock pool hoping to find Katara with Zuko close on his heels.

"What happened?" Zuko asked as they ran.

"Toph and The Duke and I were just coming back from the East Gardens when those things just swooped down from out of nowhere. One grabbed Toph before she even had a chance to react, the second one snatched up The Duke. A third one grabbed me, but I was able to bend a rock up at it and it released me. When I fell I think I broke my arm."

As they rounded the corner, Zuko spotted Katara quickly pulling on her clothes over her bathing attire as she ran towards them.

"What's going on? I heard Toph screaming." It was then she saw the Earthbender's arm. "Haru, you're hurt!"

"Forget about me!" Haru quickly explained what happened. "Aang's gone after them alone!"

Katara gasped. "We need to get to Appa!" she said and the three raced back towards the compound where Appa had apparently been napping earlier.

The massive bison was already on his feet when they arrived and Katara wasted no time grabbing her water satchel, hopping aboard Appa and grabbing the reins.

"Haru, find Sokka!" she told him. "He was with Teo earlier."

Haru nodded and took off.

As Katara turned Appa about, Zuko suddenly jumped on board.

"What are you doing?" she demanded.

"Coming with you."

"Listen here, I don't have time…"

"We can argue about this later," Zuko snapped. "Right now I think the Avatar and your friends need all the help they can get."

Katara glared angrily at him but nodded her head. "Then hold on tight!" She snapped the reins. "Appa! Yip-Yip!"

The bison needed little prodding and shot up into the air. Zuko gripped the edges of the saddle and hung on tight.

(Author's notes: Thank you all for bearing with me as I try and complete this story soon. Again, hope you enjoyed the last update, and thanks for the all of the continued feedback. Some of the inferences to firebending I got from the Avatar book, The Lost Scolls: Fire.

I did have a couple of questions for some professional Avatar fanfic writers out there if they would be so kind as to respond because I seem to see Avatar words used in different ways. A Firebender, Waterbener, etc. I usually capitalize but I'm not sure if the correct way to write about firebending is to capitalize those as well. Is it Firebending or firebending, etc? Also is it Fire Lord or Firelord. And would the correct way to describe someone bending as "Zuko bended a flame in his palm," (which sounds wierd when I wrote it) or "Zuko bent a flame in his palm" (the latter sounds correct though I'm not sure the word "bent" is the right definition for what a bender from the Avatar world does) Anyway, helpful tips to this very novice writer would be greatful. (you can email me at It would REALLY be helpful for the creators to put out an "official" Avatar dictionary, including the correct spelling of character names, lol.)


	10. Chapter 10: Arial Pursuit

**Chapter 10****: Arial Pursuit**

The flying bison rose quickly above the Western Air Temple as Katara searched the skies.

"Do you see them?" she asked anxiously.

Zuko scanned the clouds until finally spotted a group objects in the distance. "That way!" he pointed.

"Appa, Yip-Yip!"

The bison growled and with a flick of its massive tail, increased its speed.

As they drew nearer, Zuko saw the three komodo-condors in a triangular formation. Each was about the size of the bison but with an enormous wing span. Aang's smaller frame was weaving between them. Toph and The Duke where still clutched in the claws of two of the beasts.

The Avatar come up alongside one of them and practically rammed his glider into its side, trying to make it release The Duke. The creature swung its head wildly around, almost knocking Aang out of the sky.

Appa let out a resounding growl, and by his own accord, raced towards his master.

Suddenly, the three creatures broke formation. The two carrying Toph and The Duke, swooped down towards a forest of giant trees that grew in the valley between the two steep mountain peaks. The third turned on Aang.

As Aang flew by, the creature screeched as it tried to grab the glider in its massive claws. The Avatar circled under it and came out above on the other side. Snapping the glider back into a staff, Aang airbended it sharply down on top of the reptile-bird's head.

With the beast momentarily stunned, he then started free falling towards the canopy of trees, straightening his body out like a torpedo, his staff pointed straight in front of him.

But all of a sudden, the two creatures that had disappeared a few minutes earlier, now re-emerged, this time without their captures and headed for Aang. The Avatar started spinning in the air creating a vortex with his own body. As the first tried to attack, he slammed the funnel of wind against it. The creature was spun wildly about, feathers flying everywhere.

The second lunged for him, snapping its powerful beak and Aang had to duck quickly in midair. He dove downward flicking the glider back open and veering sharply off to the side. But the beast was right on his tail and closing fast, nipping at his heels.

To the right, the one Aang had thunked in the head earlier, had now recovered and was joining the chase.

Appa growled as they entered the battlefield. Katara immediately opened her satchel and bended a stream water into a whip. As the reptile-bird lunged for Aang, Katara brought the water whip sharply across its serrated beak.

Aang's quick sigh of relief was short lived however, as he had to bank sharply to avoid the one right behind the first.

As Katara brought the water whip out to deflect the creature's attack, the third one was now approaching fast from slightly above and behind. Its two massive claws were spread out reaching to snap up its prey.

"We've got more company!" Zuko shouted.

"I'm a little busy right, now," Katara snapped.

Trying to maintain his balance in the back of the bison, Zuko did several quick punches in rapid secession creating a series of fireballs. The creature flapped its massive wings backwards to avoid the flames. It then flew off to the side then down out of Zuko's sight. Katara spun Appa about, still trying to keep her sites on the first one as it circled back around.

"Where's Aang?" she shouted over her shoulder.

"I don't know. I've lost track of him!" Zuko searched the skies until he spotted the Avatar dodging one of the creatures and again trying to aim for the canopy of trees below.

Suddenly Appa was jolted from beneath. Zuko was thrown backward in the saddle, while he heard Katara's cry of alarm. Appa growled fiercely and turned sharply about. Zuko grabbed the edge of the saddle and hung on tight as the bison suddenly reared up and, using its massive tail, airbended a huge stream of air at the creature that had struck from below. The komodo-condor was catapulted head over claws down into the canopy below.

Zuko looked over the side and saw Katara now dangling in midair by the bison's reins. He moved quickly to the front as Katara struggled to climb back up. Laying on his stomach and grabbing a fist full of fur in one hand, extending his other as far as he could reach. "Grab on!"

Katara look up startled.

From behind the Waterbender, one of the two remaining creatures was approaching fast. "Hurry!"

Katara glanced briefly behind her then tried to climb the remaining distance towards his outstretched hand as quickly as possibly.

Two massive claws reached out. "Look out!!" Zuko shouted.

Katara quickly swung her body to the side, almost avoiding the beast completely, but one of its claws still managed to snag onto the strap of her water satchel then started to pull her straight up.

As she let out a cry of alarm, Zuko grabbed the other end of the reins, attempting to pull her back down.

Just then something struck the creature in the foot, and it let out a shriek of pain. A second later, Katara fell back, colliding into Zuko and flipping both of them backwards into the saddle.

"Yeah!" Zuko heard an excited voice ring out.

Through a mass of tangled arms and legs, Zuko suddenly saw Sokka appear. He was standing on the back of Teo's wheelchair glider and leaning out to the side, catching his boomerang as it returned.

"Take that you over-grown lizard!" Sokka shouted.

As Sokka and Teo zoomed past, Katara stared speechlessly down at Zuko. But for the moment, Zuko could do nothing as he tried to catch his breath. Katara's impact had knocked the wind right out of him and her right knee was currently crushing his stomach.

Katara awkwardly untangled herself as Zuko rolled to the side coughing. "Oh…uh…sorry," she finally blurted out.

Zuko grimaced. "It's okay," he managed to say at last.

But, neither had much time for further conversation however as the two birds regrouped and started moving in again.

Katara instinctively reached for the water in her oilskin pouch. "Oh no! My satchel. It's gone!"

One of the creatures expanded its claws towards them.

"Then duck!" Zuko said. He quickly brought up a fire shield. The reptile-bird shrieked and banked sharply away.

The Avatar suddenly appeared up alongside of them. "Aang, I'm out of water!" Katara shouted.

The komodo-condors circled around again.

"You and Zuko see if you can find Toph and The Duke, while Sokka, Teo and I try to hold these things off!"

Katara nodded, and swung Appa down towards the trees, while Zuko watched their backs.

As one of the creatures started another dive towards them, Sokka threw a piece of rope to Aang who awkwardly caught in. Aang and Teo then both banked away from each other bringing the line up taut. As the reptile-bird attempted to zoom pass, the rope caught across its chest and left wing.

In unison they quickly circled the beast in opposing directions effectively entangling it, then let go of both ends. The komodo-condor fell from the sky in a slow spiral, screeching.

But there was still one left and it began to chase Teo and Sokka until they all disappeared from Zuko's sight.

Katara descended to the vicinity Zuko had seen the two birds re-emerge from earlier. The forest of giant trees were densely packed in places, with trunks nearly the size of Appa and each growing over a hundred feet tall. Their thick branches sometimes merged with the tree next to it, almost as if forming a giant living chain. The trees were covered in a jungle of criss-crossing vines that looped from branch to branch and sometimes clumped together in masses making it difficult to see within the interior. Katara called out to Toph and The Duke.

"Over here!" They finally heard The Duke shout.

Zuko spotted him clinging to a branch near the top of one of the trees, waving his hand.

Katara brought the bison down as close as she could get as the boy agilely made his way towards the outer portion on the branch.

As Appa hovered, Zuko leaned over the side with an outstretched hand. The Duke's smaller hand grasped his, and Zuko hauled the boy safely aboard.

"Where's Toph?" Katara asked The Duke.

"She's in the other tree, I think, over there!" The boy indicated.

Above Zuko heard more screeching sounds and glimpsed the tip of a wing as it zoomed past. A second later he smelled a horrible stench. "What is that?"

"Teo must be using one on his stink bombs!" The Duke remarked. "Go, Teo!" The boy shouted.

As Katara manuevered Appa between the trees calling out to Toph, Zuko finally spotting movement. Two more reptile-birds were roosting on one of the giant limbs. They appeared to be juvenile versions of the adults, their feathers still not fully in but their claws and serrated beaks fully functional. They were scratching and pacing agitatedly. He then heard Toph's screams and on the next gnarled limb below the birds, he spotted the blind Earthbender. She was somehow clinging to the underside of a gnarled limb.

"Toph, hang on! We're coming!"

"Get me out of here!" she screamed.

One of the juveniles jumped down onto the thick limb below and began to claw at the bark. Startled, Toph shifted and she suddenly lost her grip. The Earthbender screamed as she fell, and only by sheer blind luck managed to grab onto a mass of criss-crossing vines about twenty feet below. She was now clinging precariously about eighty feet above the ground.

The second juvenile reptile-bird jumped down next to its sibling, each now trying to figure out a way, no doubt, how to reach the girl.

Katara tried to move Appa in underneath the Earthbender, but the thick branches grew too close together for the large bison to manuever.

She called out to her, but Toph didn't answer this time, petrified. And Zuko suddenly understood why. Without the ability to touch solid ground, the girl was truly blind and now very disoriented and scared.

Suddenly, Zuko leapt off Appa onto one of the thick limbs.

"What are you doing?" Katara asked.

"Going after her."

Katara looked at him with nothing less than shock. But then handed Appa's reins over to The Duke and followed.

They both made their way as quickly as possible along the gnarled branch. It was thick enough to walk on, but slippery with patches of moss and vines wrapped around it. The two juvenile creatures were about twenty feet diagonally above them on the next spoke of branches coming off the main trunk. Toph dangled between in the tangle of crossed vines.

The juveniles screeched and hissed, bobbing their heads agitatedly as they spotted Zuko and Katara. One of them started moving along the branch towards the main trunk, no doubt, in an attempt to cross over to their side. Zuko fired a warning blast of flame out it. The juvenile duck his head and the flame singed several leaves behind it.

"Careful or you'll set the whole tree on fire!" Katara warned.

The juvenile started to advance again.

Katara was busy examining the numerous vines snaking along the trunk of the tree and looping down from the branches. Suddenly she grabbed one of the thicker ones and concentrated. The vine started to dry up and whither and a sizeable ball of water appeared in her hands. Forming a set of ice daggers, she lobbied them at the juvenile, forcing it back.

Zuko reached the wrap of vines which extended upward to the mass Toph was entangled. Straddling the limb, Zuko reached down and gave it a tug, testing the line. Then he grabbed a hold of it with both hangs and swung down until he was hanging in midair. "Try and keep those things away while I try and reach her."

Katara nodded as she grabbed another vine and withdrew the water.

Zuko tried his best not to look down as hand over fist, he crossed the distance, trying to offer words of reassurance. "Toph. It's Zuko. Just hang on, I'm coming."

He could see one of the juveniles attempting to cross over and was forced back again by a water whip.

Zuko finally reached the blind bender. Wrapping his legs around the vine, he reached out and touched her right wrist. "Toph. Let go of the vines and grab a hold of me."

Toph shook her head. "I can't. I'm scared. I can't tell which is up or down anymore!"

"I know. But I'm here now to help you. Just trust me. Listen to my voice and do as I tell you."

The blind girl nodded. Tentatively she released her grip. Zuko guided her hand to his shoulder. "Now grab a hold and wrap your arms and legs around my shoulders and waist and then just hang on tight! I'll do the rest."

Toph did as she was told, tightening her hold around Zuko's neck until she was practically strangling him.

"Not that tight!"

"Uh…sorry." She grabbed him around the shoulders instead.

"Now hang on!"

Zuko started back. About halfway across though, the vine jerked violently and they dropped several feet.

Toph let out a scream and buried her face into his back. Zuko looked up to see one of the juveniles had bitten clean through one of support vines wrapped around the limb diagonally above them. A ball of ice suddenly hit the creature in the eye and forced it back.

"Hurry up!" Katara said. "I don't know how much longer I can hold them off!"

"What's happening?" Toph said in a panic, tightening her hold on him until she was nearly choking him again.

"Never mind. Let's just be quick about this," Zuko replied. Gritting his teeth, he continued to make his way along the vine, his muscles bulging under the strain. For such a short thing, he found the Earthbender to be solidly packed. He finally made it back to the main branch where Katara was already reaching down and grabbing Toph by the shirt, pulling her to safety.

But then all of a sudden, the last supporting vine snapped on the other end, and Zuko felt his body swinging downward. He tried to hook his arm around the tree limb, but only managed to grab hold of a chunk of slippery moss instead. Zuko started rapidly sliding down the vine. Desperately he tried to tighten his grip and wrap his legs around the vine to slow his out of control descent.

He heard Katara shout his name.

Finally he jerked to a stop as his fist came in contact with a knot in the vine. As he dangled in midair, Zuko looked down to the sixty foot drop and cringed. Though he wasn't terrified of heights, he wasn't exactly thrilled with them either.

Looking above, he glimpsed Katara trying to guide Toph back along the branch towards the awaiting bison. The two juvenile creatures had now successfully crossed over and were slowly advancing.

Zuko quickly assessed his situation, then spotted another large branch about twenty feet away. Quickly he started swinging towards it. With each swing he got closer but not close enough to grab hold.

Meanwhile the first creature continued its advance on Katara and Toph, while the second had stopped to look down at Zuko's progress. And then to Zuko's dismay, it started scratching at the vine he was swinging on. "Oh, great!" he muttered under his breath, kicking his legs even harder.

As he swung forward, the vine suddenly snapped and as Zuko shot through the air, he made a desperate lunge for the limb. His chest impacted solidly with the wood, making him grunt in pain. He quickly wrapped his arms tightly around the branch, and then managed to swing his leg over the top and finally leverage himself up. Wasting no time, he moved toward the outer edge of the tree looking above for the bison. But it was no longer there.

Once Toph was safe, had Katara left him behind? Zuko wondered.

Suddenly Appa appeared from below. "Down here!" The Duke shouted.

Zuko slide down a shorter vine to a much narrower limb and used it to push himself off and jumped quickly down aboard the bison. He noticed Katara once again had control of the reins, while Toph clung to the saddle, her face still white while The Duke sat next to her in reassurance.

"Appa, Yip-Yip," Katara shouted. The bison shot upward clearing the trees in seconds.

A few minutes later Teo and Sokka came up alongside them while Aang glided above.

"Way to go, Sis!" Sokka cheered. "Now let's get out of here!"

"I think that might be a little bit of a problem," Teo said, pointing ahead.

Directly in front of them, three more of the creatures had appeared.

"Oh, man!" Sokka groaned. "Where'd they come from?!"

"I don't know, but we know where they're headed," Teo said.

"I've got an idea," The Avatar said. "Katara, follow behind me with Appa. Teo and Sokka, take up the rear and get ready with the last of those stink and smoke bombs!"

"Gotcha, covered," Sokka said.

The group of flyers formed a straight line with the Avatar in the lead. The three creatures were fast closing the distance flying side by side, almost wing tip to wing tip.

Suddenly Aang flipped the glider completely over and was now standing on the staff portion of the frame, riding it like a board.

"What is he doing?" Zuko asked.

Katara grinned in awe. "He's wind surfing."

Aang kept his arms outstretched as he balanced on the frame and used his airbending to propel the glider forward even faster. Zuko had no idea how this maneuver was going to help matters, but continued to watch curiously, having already discovered in the past the Avatar was full of surprises. The boy waited until the creatures were almost on top on him, their razor sharp beaks open to attack. The Avatar suddenly thrusts both arms forward. A huge jet of flame shot out in front of him.

The three creatures shrieked as they had to wildly veer away from the intense torch of flames.

The three groups of riders shot through the broken formation. "Now, Sokka! Now, Teo!" Aang shouted.

Sokka grinned with understanding. He chucked the last of the stink bombs down on the creatures as they zoomed past. Then Teo pulled a lever on his chair. The air was soon filled with thick dark grey smoke and the stench of skunk weed and rotting fish causing Zuko to nearly gag in the process.

The Duke was jumping up and down in the saddle. "Whooooo-haaaaa!"

Zuko grabbed The Duke by the leg before he fell out in his excitement. He looked back, but apparently the creatures had enough and weren't following.

"Way to go, Aang!" Sokka shouted. "Now that's what I call flaming!"

The Avatar flipped back around on the glider, once again holding onto the framework, his boyish face grinning widely as he led the group safely back to the Western Air Temple.

(Author's notes: Sorry to those with alerts put out on my fic but the last update to the chapter was an attempt to make the forest description a little clearer based on apprecaited feedback from a reader. Hope you enjoyed the latest installment. And though my intent is not to have the story be Zutara or Kataang, I still thought it fun to have Katara and Zuko have work together to save Toph and also to interact with the rest of the group as a team. Anyway, I should be done with the fic soon if you guys can bear with me. As alwasy, feedback is appreciated.)


	11. Chapter 11: Back on Solid Ground

**Chapter 11:**** Back on Solid Ground**

Haru was anxiously waiting for them when the group finally returned to the Western Air Temple.

As soon as they landed, Toph slid off Appa, got down on all fours and hugged the ground. "Earth! Am I happy to see you again!"

Haru raced over to them, still supporting his injured arm. "Is everyone all right?"

"All in one piece and accounted for. We even managed to bring Zuko back," Sokka teased.

Sokka then grabbed the Airbender in a friendly headlock. "And you should have seen this guy, Haru. Nice bit of air surfing there dude!"

Aang laughed. "Well, ever since I saw Monk Gyatso do that in my vision I had with Avatar Roku, I've been dying to give it a try."

Zuko stepped over to Aang. "Not a bad display of firebending either, Avatar," he complemented.

A faint blush appeared on Aang's face as he smiled. "Thanks, but I had a good teacher."

Aang looked down at the Earthbender who sat on the ground. "You okay, Toph?"

"I am now. Thanks to Zuko and Katara."

Aang and the rest of the gang, with the exception of Katara, looked curiously over at Zuko as Toph explained how he and Katara had rescued her.

Katara was standing off to the side one arm hanging loosely at her side, the other across her waist and holding her left elbow. Her mouth was turned downward into a stubborn frown. The Avatar looked over at his best friend and sighed sadly.

Aang then turned to Zuko. He bowed, placing his fist to palm in the traditional Fire Nation manner of respect. "Thank you, Zuko, for helping us today." Aang said sincerely. "My friends mean everything to me."

Zuko nodded. "I was glad to help, Avatar."

Toph stood up and walked over to Zuko. "Yeah, you're okay in my book, Flame Boy. Thanks for saving my life." She gave him a friendly punch in the arm.

Zuko smiled at the return of the blind bender's gruff tone as he rubbed his sore arm. "No problem."

Sokka uncomfortably rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, well I guess you did _okay_ today," he reluctantly agreed. "And since Aang _does_ need a firebending teacher, I suppose you could actually be a decent addition to the team." The Water Tribe warrior reluctantly offered his arm and Zuko accepted it.

Toph walked over to Katara, and as she passed, gave Katara a nudge in the forearm. Her mouth pinched up in annoyance.

As the entire group watched, she slowly stepped forward. The deep blue eyes focused intensely on Zuko. "Just tell me one thing, Zuko. Why did you really help us today?" Katara asked, with the familiar hardness in her tone. "Why did risk your own neck to save one of us?"

"Katara…" Aang started to interrupt.

"It's okay, Avatar," Zuko replied. "I admire her loyalty for wanting to protect you. It's a rare thing to have such good friends."

"I know," Aang replied humbly.

"I understand your reservations towards me after all the things I've done in the past," Zuko said to Katara. "My only excuse is that for the last three and a half years, ever since my father gave me this," Zuko said, indicating the scar, "and banished me from the Fire Nation, I've been consumed with a lot of anger."

He looked to Aang. "Anger that, unfortunately, was directed at you, because of the ultimatum my father had given me that my honor could never be restored unless I hunted you down. It was a lot for a thirteen year old kid to have to face and it screwed me up for a long time. Catching you, destroying you, became my only destiny in life. And each time I failed it became a greater dishonor to bear."

"But my father was wrong. Wrong in so many ways he could never possibly understand. I learned my father's desire for power would always outweigh anything else that mattered, even the life of his only son."

"When I finally confronted him, spoke my mind, and then told him my intentions to join you, I knew there would be no turning back. For once in my life my destiny and my honor were now in my own hands and of my own making."

He turned and looked directly at Katara. "You asked me why I wanted to help you today…why I would risk my life to save one of yours. The truth of the matter is I've come to respect the Avatar and have even come to like him…as a friend. I admire him for what he's trying to accomplish despite all the odds against him, even it that meant taking a chance on me, after all I've done. I also admire the loyalty and friendships all of you share with Aang. It's something I've had little experience myself growing up with in the Royal Palace, but they are honorable qualities I wouldn't mind being a part of one day. But right now, I'll settle for doing all that I can to help the Avatar defeat my father and end this war. And hopefully in the end I can restore my own honor through my own actions, this time for the good."

Katara gazed directly into his eyes, and Zuko did his best not to look away. He wanted to hide nothing of his sincerity or intent. Finally she seemed to have come to a decision.

"All right, Zuko. I'm willing to give you an honest chance this time." Slowly, she extended her arm.

Zuko gratefully accepted it.

But as he went to release his grip, Katara's suddenly tightened and her eyes bored intensely into his. "But I warn you now. Do anything to cause me to mistrust you again, or anything to hurt Aang, and this will be the _last_ time I will ever offer my arm to you in friendship, understand?"

Katara released him and stepped back.

The Prince of the Fire Nation dipped his head humbly then brought his hands up, with both palms together in the traditional manner of respect to the Water Tribe. "I give you my word. And one day I hope that will be enough for you to believe in me."

"It will do for now," Katara was willing to accept.

The Avatar walked over to his best friend and placed his hand on her arm and smiled as if a big weight had been lifted from his shoulders. "Thanks, Katara."

Katara looked down at Aang, and smiled warmly back. "Come on, then. Enough of this. Let's go see what I can do to fix Haru's arm up."

Zuko watched as she and Aang went over to examine the injured Earthbender. The arm was definitely broken below the elbow. The Duke brought Katara some water.

"Hey, is that going to take long?" Sokka suddenly interrupted.

Katara looked at her brother. "Why do you ask?"

"Because I'm starving," Sokka whined. "Do you think you can hurry up and fix that and then make us some dinner?"

Katara turned on her brother, her hands on her hips. "Can't you _ever_ think of something else besides your stomach?"

Her brother shrugged. "Hey, I'm just a simple guy, with simple needs. And right now my need is food woman!" Katara's eye twitched. "But now that you mention it, I do have a big hole in my sock that needs mending," he said teasingly.

"I fixed that hole last week!" Katara snapped irritably. "And I told you then to learn to mend those smelling things yourself next time!"

"But it's on the other sock this time and my big toe is sticking out!"

Katara rolled her eyes. "Sokka, go away before I have to hurt you!"

(Chapter fades to white………)

(Author's notes: So what about the lotus tile and the problem about Aang's Avatar State? Well, like any good Avatar chapter, it leaves the reader with more questions than answers. This fic was mostly intended to focus on developing a friendship between Aang and Zuko as well as gaining acceptance from the Gaang. I do have a few ideas of how Aang my get his Avatar State back, but haven't quite figured it out yet. Maybe I should just wait until and see how the creators do it, lol. Anyway, thanks everyone for reading the fic and the tons of feedback I received. It really helped to keep me focused on finishing this.)


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